Prime Minister David Cameron called off his highly-anticipated speech on the UK's relationship with the European Union (EU) Friday to deal with the hostage situation in Algeria.

Cameron was due to lay out his views on Britain's ties with the EU in the Netherlands late Friday.

However, he was forced to defer the speech as he feared Britons' lives were at risk after an al-Qaeda linked group of Islamist militants raided a BP oil site in Algeria.

At least four foreign workers died on Thursday when troops attacked the quarters, BBC News reported.

The group had claimed to be holding 41 hostages. They freed at least four, but the fate of others is still unknown.

The state-run APS news agency said two Britons and two Filipinos have been killed.

Another Briton and an Algerian died on Wednesday when the militants stormed a bus transporting foreign workers at the facility to the local airport.

The incident adds another setback in Cameron's speech which has been expected since last summer.

Excepts of his address released Thursday night, revealed he had intended a "positive vision for the future of the European Union. A future in which Britain wants, and should want, to play a committed and active part," according to the BBC.

He planned to say that the country needs to address the fact that the EU was undergoing fundamental change.

"There is a gap between the EU and its citizens which has grown dramatically in recent years and which represents a lack of democratic accountability and consent that is - yes - felt particularly acutely in Britain," the extract said.

"If we don't address these challenges, the danger is that Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit," he was to say.

"I do not want that to happen. I want the European Union to be a success and I want a relationship between Britain and the EU that keeps us in it."

Cameron was going to stress the urgency of the EU's democratic legitimacy following austerity measures taken to deal with the economic crisis.

"People are increasingly frustrated that decisions taken further and further away from them mean their living standards are slashed through enforced austerity or their taxes are used to bail out governments on the other side of the continent," he intended to say.

"And yes, of course, we are seeing this frustration with the EU very dramatically in Britain. Europe's leaders have a duty to hear these concerns. And we have a duty to act on them."

US President Obama has amped up the pressure on Cameron over Britain remaining part of the EU. The White House released details of a phone call between the leaders on Thursday.

"The President underscored our close alliance with the United Kingdom and said that the United States values a strong UK in a strong European Union, which makes critical contributions to peace, prosperity, and security in Europe and around the world," a spokesperson said.

The prime minister has said he does not favour a so-called "in-out" referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, in which people would vote on whether they want to remain a member of the area.

RD

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