Kidnapped BBC man to be released 'soon:' Hamas
Monday, 18 June 2007
GAZA CITY, Jun 17 (AFP): BBC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped in Gaza more than three months ago, should be released "soon," a spokesman for Hamas said Sunday.
"Major efforts are underway which should end soon with the liberation of Alan Johnston," Sami Abu Zuhri told the news agency. "We cannot say the exact hour of this liberation."
Hamas has pledged in the wake of its bloody seizure of power in Gaza to work to free Johnston, who was snatched by gunmen from his car as he drove home from work on March 12 in Gaza City. He has now been held for 97 days.
"I hope he will be freed in the next few hours god willing," a Hamas representative in Iran, Abu Ossama al-Motti told the news agency in Tehran.
"He will be freed. He could stay in Gaza and be our guest but he could also go to Britain if he wants."
On Friday, the Iranian-backed Islamist movement's armed wing said it had started taking "practical steps" to release Johnston after its fighters overran its rivals from the secular Fatah party in Gaza.
"Major efforts are underway which should end soon with the liberation of Alan Johnston," Sami Abu Zuhri told the news agency. "We cannot say the exact hour of this liberation."
Hamas has pledged in the wake of its bloody seizure of power in Gaza to work to free Johnston, who was snatched by gunmen from his car as he drove home from work on March 12 in Gaza City. He has now been held for 97 days.
"I hope he will be freed in the next few hours god willing," a Hamas representative in Iran, Abu Ossama al-Motti told the news agency in Tehran.
"He will be freed. He could stay in Gaza and be our guest but he could also go to Britain if he wants."
On Friday, the Iranian-backed Islamist movement's armed wing said it had started taking "practical steps" to release Johnston after its fighters overran its rivals from the secular Fatah party in Gaza.