I think people are being unfair, or at least premature, in their condemnation of Algeria for the outcome of this situation. As far as I was aware, the sequence of events is still not entirely clear and there has been information about the kidnappers killing at least some hostages independantly of any Algerian actions. I don't think we can be certain anything the Algerian authorities did could have improved the outcome or that the authorities of any other nation could have done better. That isn't to say they didn't make mistakes, only that it's too early to presume they did or that we could do better.
The "not consulting with other governments" strikes me as a little silly to be honest. This was a fast moving, changeable situation so it's hardly realistic to expect communication between Algerian politicians and politicians of several other nations before the forces on the ground took any actions. I suspect some of the decisions would have been made officers on the ground (such as the response to some kidnappers trying to flee with some hostages).
To look at it another way, if there was a similar situation in the US or UK with Algerian hostages, I suspect any suggestion that we should get authority from the Algerian government on our response would be mocked and condemned. I also think that if it had been in any Western (dare I say white) country, such a suggestion wouldn't have even been considered. They should certainly do their best to keep relevant foreign authorities informed and give reasonable consideration to offers of assistance and advice but at the end of the day, the incident was in their borders and it was their responsibility to deal with it.
