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Kidnapped BBC reporter freed
By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - British reporter Alan Johnston, looking pale and tired, was released Wednesday after nearly four months in captivity in the Gaza Strip and said it was "fantastic" to be free after an "appalling" ordeal.
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The British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent said his captors threatened his life a number of times in various ways but were rarely violent, although they hit him in the final moments before he was released. They kept him in solitary confinement throughout his captivity and at one point, chained his hands and ankles for a 24-hour period. He also said he got sick from the food.
"It is just the most fantastic thing to be free," Johnston said in a telephone interview with the BBC hours after he was freed. "It was an appalling experience, as you can imagine, 16 weeks kidnapped, sometimes, occasionally, quite terrifying and frightening," he said, speaking from the Gaza home of deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Shortly afterward, Johnston set off in a convoy for Jerusalem in the company of British diplomats, a British consular official said.
As recently as last week, Johnston's life appeared to be in serious peril when the group holding him posted a video on a militant Web site in which the journalist appeared to be wearing an explosives belt that he said his captors would detonate it if there were an attempt to free him.
While he was in captivity, a civil war raged on the streets of Gaza around him and Israel was bombarding Palestinian militants with airstrikes.
"It became almost hard to imagine normal life again," Johnston told the BBC in a steady and composed voice. "And I literally dreamt many many times of being free and always woke up back in that room and now it really is over and it is indescribably good to be out," he said.
"I didn't know where it was going to end," he said. "I think I'm OK after an extraordinary level of stress and psychological pressure for a long, long time ... I probably got out of it as well as I could have."
He said he had a radio throughout most of his captivity and was able to follow the support and interest in his case, which was "a huge psychological boost."
Johnston was kidnapped by a shadowy, little-known group known as the Army of Islam from a Gaza City street on March 12 and held far longer than any other foreign reporter in Gaza.
After his release, he was taken to the home of Haniyeh in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp. Before entering, Johnston told an Associated Press reporter, "I'm OK, really, I'm OK."
Television footage showed him sitting beside Haniyeh and surrounded by other Hamas officials. He thanked Haniyeh and Hamas.
The BBC also reported Johnston had spoken to his father since his release.
Asked by Al-Jazeera television whether he would return to Gaza, which he had covered for three years, Johnston said: "After many months of kidnapping, I think I need a break."
Television footage showed Johnston emerging from a building in Gaza surrounded by a throng of armed Palestinian men and escorted into a waiting car while cameras flashed around him.
There was no immediate comment from Johnston's former captors.
Hamas had demanded Johnston's freedom since it violently seized control of Gaza last month, in an apparent bid to curry favor with the West.
But a senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, denied that Hamas acted in an effort to improve its relations with the West, which is boycotting the Islamic group over its violently anti-Israel ideology.
"We didn't work to receive favors from the British government. We did this because of humanitarian concern, and to achieve a government aim to extend security to all without fear," Zahar said.
On Tuesday, Hamas gunmen took positions around the Army of Islam's stronghold, stepping up the pressure to secure his release. Hamas officials said they were tightening the siege on Johnston's kidnappers and would spare no efforts to free him.
Still it was not immediately clear why Johnston's captors chose to release him at this time or under what specific terms he was freed, but Hamas said there would be no crackdown on the Army of Islam.
Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman, said Johnston's captors had responded positively to recent efforts by tribal and religious leaders to end Johnston's ordeal. Taha said the Army of Islam would not be dismantled or disarmed in return for freeing the reporter.
On Tuesday, members of Hamas' 6,000-person militia moved onto rooftops of high-rise buildings and deployed gunmen in streets of the Gaza City neighborhood inhabited by the Doghmush clan, the large, heavily armed family that leads the Army of Islam.
In an afternoon exchange of fire, a Palestinian civilian was killed, Hamas said, blaming the Doghmush forces. No other casualties were reported.
On Monday, Hamas arrested the spokesman of the Army of Islam, giving it a potentially valuable bargaining chip in its efforts to release Johnston.
Late Tuesday, the Doghmush clan released nine students loyal to Hamas that they kidnapped earlier in the week. Hamas officials and mediators said the release was meant to pave the way for Johnston's release.
Then four Army of Islam members were freed by Hamas, said Abu Mujahid from the Popular Resistance Committees, the militant group handling the negotiations. The four included the Army of Islam spokesman arrested Monday.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Johnston's captors of smearing the Palestinian people's reputation and of seeking "to prove to the world that we are a group of militias that fight each other to gain personal ends."
The Army of Islam, whose formerly close relations with Hamas have soured, had demanded that Britain first release a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaida.
The same group was involved in the capture of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized more than a year ago in a raid on an Israeli army post near Gaza.
Kidnapped BBC reporter freed
By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - British reporter Alan Johnston, looking pale and tired, was released Wednesday after nearly four months in captivity in the Gaza Strip and said it was "fantastic" to be free after an "appalling" ordeal.
ADVERTISEMENT
The British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent said his captors threatened his life a number of times in various ways but were rarely violent, although they hit him in the final moments before he was released. They kept him in solitary confinement throughout his captivity and at one point, chained his hands and ankles for a 24-hour period. He also said he got sick from the food.
"It is just the most fantastic thing to be free," Johnston said in a telephone interview with the BBC hours after he was freed. "It was an appalling experience, as you can imagine, 16 weeks kidnapped, sometimes, occasionally, quite terrifying and frightening," he said, speaking from the Gaza home of deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Shortly afterward, Johnston set off in a convoy for Jerusalem in the company of British diplomats, a British consular official said.
As recently as last week, Johnston's life appeared to be in serious peril when the group holding him posted a video on a militant Web site in which the journalist appeared to be wearing an explosives belt that he said his captors would detonate it if there were an attempt to free him.
While he was in captivity, a civil war raged on the streets of Gaza around him and Israel was bombarding Palestinian militants with airstrikes.
"It became almost hard to imagine normal life again," Johnston told the BBC in a steady and composed voice. "And I literally dreamt many many times of being free and always woke up back in that room and now it really is over and it is indescribably good to be out," he said.
"I didn't know where it was going to end," he said. "I think I'm OK after an extraordinary level of stress and psychological pressure for a long, long time ... I probably got out of it as well as I could have."
He said he had a radio throughout most of his captivity and was able to follow the support and interest in his case, which was "a huge psychological boost."
Johnston was kidnapped by a shadowy, little-known group known as the Army of Islam from a Gaza City street on March 12 and held far longer than any other foreign reporter in Gaza.
After his release, he was taken to the home of Haniyeh in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp. Before entering, Johnston told an Associated Press reporter, "I'm OK, really, I'm OK."
Television footage showed him sitting beside Haniyeh and surrounded by other Hamas officials. He thanked Haniyeh and Hamas.
The BBC also reported Johnston had spoken to his father since his release.
Asked by Al-Jazeera television whether he would return to Gaza, which he had covered for three years, Johnston said: "After many months of kidnapping, I think I need a break."
Television footage showed Johnston emerging from a building in Gaza surrounded by a throng of armed Palestinian men and escorted into a waiting car while cameras flashed around him.
There was no immediate comment from Johnston's former captors.
Hamas had demanded Johnston's freedom since it violently seized control of Gaza last month, in an apparent bid to curry favor with the West.
But a senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, denied that Hamas acted in an effort to improve its relations with the West, which is boycotting the Islamic group over its violently anti-Israel ideology.
"We didn't work to receive favors from the British government. We did this because of humanitarian concern, and to achieve a government aim to extend security to all without fear," Zahar said.
On Tuesday, Hamas gunmen took positions around the Army of Islam's stronghold, stepping up the pressure to secure his release. Hamas officials said they were tightening the siege on Johnston's kidnappers and would spare no efforts to free him.
Still it was not immediately clear why Johnston's captors chose to release him at this time or under what specific terms he was freed, but Hamas said there would be no crackdown on the Army of Islam.
Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman, said Johnston's captors had responded positively to recent efforts by tribal and religious leaders to end Johnston's ordeal. Taha said the Army of Islam would not be dismantled or disarmed in return for freeing the reporter.
On Tuesday, members of Hamas' 6,000-person militia moved onto rooftops of high-rise buildings and deployed gunmen in streets of the Gaza City neighborhood inhabited by the Doghmush clan, the large, heavily armed family that leads the Army of Islam.
In an afternoon exchange of fire, a Palestinian civilian was killed, Hamas said, blaming the Doghmush forces. No other casualties were reported.
On Monday, Hamas arrested the spokesman of the Army of Islam, giving it a potentially valuable bargaining chip in its efforts to release Johnston.
Late Tuesday, the Doghmush clan released nine students loyal to Hamas that they kidnapped earlier in the week. Hamas officials and mediators said the release was meant to pave the way for Johnston's release.
Then four Army of Islam members were freed by Hamas, said Abu Mujahid from the Popular Resistance Committees, the militant group handling the negotiations. The four included the Army of Islam spokesman arrested Monday.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Johnston's captors of smearing the Palestinian people's reputation and of seeking "to prove to the world that we are a group of militias that fight each other to gain personal ends."
The Army of Islam, whose formerly close relations with Hamas have soured, had demanded that Britain first release a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaida.
The same group was involved in the capture of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized more than a year ago in a raid on an Israeli army post near Gaza.