BBC News with David Austin

An attempt to rescue a kidnapped British engineer and his Italian colleague in Nigeria has failed, and both are dead. The British Prime Minister David Cameron said early indications were that the

hostages

were killed by their captors before they could be freed. The men were kidnapped last May. British forces supported the Nigerian-led operation. Our correspondent in Rome Alan Johnston reports on the reaction in Italy.

News of the failed rescue mission was broken here in a statement from the office of the Prime Minister Mario Monti. It described the unfolding of events in very much the same way as the British side did, but it also said that the Italian government has only been informed that military action was being taken after the

rescue mission

had begun. And this has caused some concern here. A member of parliament, Rosa Calipari, demanded to know why the Italians hadn't been involved in the decision-making process from the start.

A deadline for private creditors to join a multi-billion euro Greek bond

swap

has now passed without an announcement on the outcome of negotiations. Before the deadline, the Greek government had indicated it was confident of completing a deal with investors that could help it avoid

defaulting

on its huge debts. An official told the BBC correspondent in Athens that he believed some 80% of private creditors would sign up.

The Kenyan government says it's