GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston appeared Friday in a videotape posted on an Islamic Web, the first time he has been seen since he was abducted nearly three months ago.
There was no way to tell when the video was recorded or why his captors released it. However, it was made public after a senior aide to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas visited Britain and said Johnston would be released soon.
The kidnappers appear to have some ties to the Islamic militant Hamas, and have demanded the release of prisoners held in Britain.
Johnston's family said they were pleased to see the pictures of the British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent, but were "very distressed" that he appeared in a kidnappers' video.
The video appeared on the Al-Ekhlaas Web site, frequently used by Islamic militants. It bore the logo of the Army of Islam, the Palestinian group that is believed to hold the 45-year-old reporter, and opened with Arabic chanting and verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Johnston was shown from the waist up against a dark gray backdrop, wearing a bright red sweater. He appeared calm as he spoke for three minutes, looking directly at the camera.
"My captors have treated me very well, they've fed me well, there has been no violence towards me at all and I am in good health," he said, then launched into a litany of complaints about Israel, and British and U.S. Mideast policy.
"In three years here in the Palestinian territories I witnessed the huge suffering of the Palestinian people, and my message is that the suffering is continuing and it is unacceptable," he said. It was not clear whether he was reciting something he was told to say.
The video ended with Johnston about to outline conditions for his release, only to have the tape cut away to a voice demanding freedom for Islamic prisoners, including a cleric with ties to al-Qaida imprisoned in Britain. The demand was made in Arabic and accompanied by English subtitles.
Johnston also criticized Britain for its role in Israel's creation on land the British once administered, calling Israel "the cause of all the suffering of the Palestinian people."
"We, the British, are completely to blame, along with the Americans, for the situation in Iraq," he added, while "the British are the main force in Afghanistan, causing all the trouble to all the simple Afghans who simply want to live."
He began relaying a message to his family, but was cut off. Subtitles then appeared, saying, "The BBC refused to take this message to his family."
"We are studying the video very carefully...This is a highly distressing time for them and for his friends and his colleagues," the BBC said in a statement posted on its Web site.
In Scotland, Britain's incoming prime minister, Gordon Brown, said Johnston's captors "are not serving their cause by detaining him in this unfair and unjust way," and urged them to free the reporter "as a matter of urgency."
A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he believes the release of the video is a sign of progress in negotiations for Johnston's release.
Gaza-based security analyst Shaker Shabat agreed. "They are showing Johnston is alive, and that is to seal the deal," he said. "This is an indication that a deal is almost finished and Johnston will come out soon."
He and other Palestinian security officials have dismissed the idea that Johnston's kidnappers are serious about demands that Britain release an imprisoned cleric of Palestinian-Jordanian descent, Abu Qatada. "They want money. The demand is to show people they are a serious political group," Shabat said.
The video came after Ghazi Hamad, an aide to Haniyeh, returned from Britain, where he said Johnston was alive and well, and could be soon set free. Hamad did not return telephone calls to clarify whether there was any link between the timing of his visit and the release of the video.
Palestinian officials have said they know where to find Johnston, but have held back on raiding the hideout at Britain's request, for fear of harming him.
The Palestinian government has tried to negotiate with the captors, while the British government has held talks with Abu Qatada in an effort to secure Johnston's release.
In a previous Gaza kidnapping, a video of two Fox News journalists captured in the summer of 2006 was released days before they were freed after two weeks in captivity.
The Army of Islam was one of three factions involved in the June 2006 kidnapping of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who remains in captivity. All three groups are linked to Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinians' governing coalition.
On Friday, Haniyeh called on Johnston's captors to "protect him," saying the kidnapping was "an act that doesn't serve Islam and doesn't serve the Palestinian cause."
With friends like these who needs enemies
Here are some more......
Islamic group targets women newscasters
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Islamic group threatened to behead female TV broadcasters if they don't wear strict Islamic dress, frightening reporters and signaling a further shift toward extremism in the
The threat to "cut throats from vein to vein" was delivered by the Swords of Truth, a fanatical group that has previously claimed responsibility for bombing Internet cafes and music shops. The new threat was the first time the organization targeted a specific group of people.
In many parts of the Muslim world, conservative policies keep women out of TV anchor positions or dictate they wear headscarves on air. Headscarves for TV broadcasters are uncommon, however, in Lebanon and Jordan, and even Egypt keeps newscasters who wear them off its TV stations.
The influence of Islamic groups in the Gaza Strip has grown over the past three decades, especially as poverty has risen since fighting with
Israel began in 2000. Now, it is more common to see women with their faces covered with veils than women without their hair covered.
Most of the 15 women broadcasters on government-run Palestine TV wear headscarves. But they also wear makeup and Western clothing — not considered strictly observant by extremists.
The Swords of Truth issued the statement Friday in an e-mail to news organizations.
"We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation," the statement said. The group also accused the women broadcasters of being "without any ... shame or morals."
Prior to the statement, some women broadcasters said they had received personal threats through their mobile phones. It was not clear if the threats were from the same group.
One anchorwoman who does not wear a headscarf said she was too frightened by the threat to go to work on Saturday.
"It's a dangerous precedent in our society. It will target all working women," said the broadcaster, who declined to give her name out of fear. "The statement frightened us."
Another presenter who wears a headscarf said she couldn't understand why they were targeted. "I hope they take it back. I hope not a bullet will be fired at us," she said.
Basem Abu Sumaya, head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which runs Palestine TV, said the PBC already had security measures in place, but could not protect people on the way to work. The PBC is bankrolled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of
Fatah, and is accused of openly exhibiting support for the moderate movement, a bitter rival of the Islamic group Hamas.
A senior security official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said The Swords of Truth had less than 100 members and was formed last year.
The group claimed responsibility for the bombings of about three dozen Internet cafes, music shops and pool halls, which are considered places of vice by some in deeply conservative Gaza. Assailants detonated small bombs outside the businesses at night, causing damage but no injuries.
The security official said his forces were taking the threat seriously. He said Hamas members funded the group, wanting to impose a hardline version of Islam in Gaza. Hamas won parliamentary elections last year, but has since formed a unity government with Fatah.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Ridwan said his faction had "no relation" to the group.
Other hardline groups also have become prominent in Gaza in recent months. The Army of Islam claimed responsibility for kidnapping British Broadcasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston in March. And Muslim hardliners lobbed a bomb at a U.N.-run school in May, accusing the world body of "turning schools into nightclubs" for holding a show of traditional Palestinian dancing.
Not exactly the broadcasts those female presenters had in mind
