Posted on 08/14/2006 10:27:48 AM PDT by slowhand520
GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen kidnapped two foreign journalists working for the Fox News television channel in Gaza on Monday, a witness said.
The witness, a Palestinian who worked with the two journalists, said one of them, a producer, was an American, and the other, whose nationality he did not know, was a cameraman.
The Fox News bureau in Jerusalem said it was checking the report.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction.
The witness said two vehicles blocked the journalist's transmission truck in the center of Gaza City and a masked man put a gun to the bodyguard's head, forcing him to the ground.
The kidnappers then sped away with the two journalists.
Similar incidents in the past in Gaza have ended with the release, usually within hours, of kidnapped foreign journalists or aid workers.
Many of the abductions were carried out by Palestinians pressing a grievance against the Palestinian government or its security forces
Thanks for the update!!
Prayers for the two and their families!!!
Thanks for reminding me...
Yes and still...FOX SHOULD BE REPORTING THIS!
Continued prayers for the protection of both men.
From this article:
http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=630&eeid=5015105&_sitecat=1505&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=ne&s=in&rg=blsadstrgt
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, on Wednesday appealed to the kidnappers to free her husband and Centanni.
"The bottom line is there is no good reason for these two men to be held," said McNaught, a BBC World presenter. "They are friends of the Palestinians. They are here telling the Palestinian story for weeks now, when the rest of the worlds media has not been here."
ABC just reporter stil no idea or word on their whereabouts.
What do they kidnap people for and not tell what the heck they want???
Frightening!!
Because they are animals.
Update for the ping list:
1 hour ago:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fncers_kidnapped_in_gaza_centanni_thought_gaza_would_be_safer_than_iraq_42142.asp
Wednesday, Aug 16
FNCers Kidnapped In Gaza: Centanni Thought Gaza Would Be Safer Than Iraq
The Fox News Channel negotiators "haven't heard from the kidnappers." That's according to Steve Centanni's brother Nicholas.
He tells the San Jose Mercury News that "the experienced foreign correspondent was excited" when he "left for his first assignment in Israel."
"He thought this would be a safer place than going to Iraq," Nicholas Centanni recalls...
Posted by brian | 12:01 PM | FNC
One more article:
http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2006/Press_Releases/08-16-06.html
What is behind the Fox TV kidnaps?
The kidnap of two Fox TV news staff by Palestinian gunmen is indicative of growing anarchy and poverty arising from Israel’s destruction of the Palestinian Authority and its economy, says Middle East politics expert Dr Nigel Parsons.
Dr Parsons recently returned from the West Bank where he was researching Fatah (the formerly-dominant political faction which lost its majority to Hamas in January’s parliamentary elections) and the PA’s security apparatus. He says the kidnappings of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig are likely to be intended to embarrass Hamas and help the gunmen secure access to much-needed financial resources.
He notes the kidnapping, which no-one has taken responsibility for, is similar to others carried out by groups claiming to be the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a decentralised and radical offshoot of the mainstream Fatah movement.
"The brigades were formed during the second intifadah [uprising], in 2000, as a Fatah response to the success of Hamas, to compete for public support,” Dr Parsons says.
The author of a recently-published book on the Palestinian Authority, Dr Parsons has conducted more than 18 months’ research in Palestine and has interviewed key members of Fatah.
He is familiar with “hardcore” Fatah activists who described the formation al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as an informal and spontaneous decision among men who have a history of activism and access to weapons.
"The Brigades can be equated to a franchise. They are totally decentralised which means that anyone with guns and some mates and a will, who aren’t Hamas, can declare themselves a Brigade in a given locale.”
Dr Parsons says previous Brigade attacks provide possible explanations for the latest kidnappings.
"Since Israel destroyed the Palestinian security apparatus, then withheld finance from the new Hamas government, people are looking for means to support their families. One way of improving their position has been to kidnap a foreigner to remind what is left of the Authority of their needs. They might then be expected to be quietly recruited in the security apparatus, given a uniform and a salary.”
Dr Parsons says previous incidents have ended bloodlessly and hostages often end up sympathising with the position of their captors.
Another likely motivation is that the Brigades as an offshoot of Fatah hope to embarrass the Hamas government which is responsible for internal security.
He says in this case, the kidnapping could be a “win-win situation for the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.”
"If the stunt is designed to embarrass, and as previously no one gets hurt, they might come out of it having put another dent in Hamas and maybe even with a job.”
Dr Parsons agrees with speculation that the kidnapping may also be a direct retaliation to Fox TV which tends to favour pro-Israel reporting.
Created: 16 August, 2006
I guess the big question is how can anyone negotiate when no one has heard from the kidnappers?
I keep saying no news is good news, no news is good news....
It's hard to say, isn't it? This just doesn't have the same feel to it as other Gaza kidnappings. Continued prayers and thoughts for these men, their friends and families.
That & pray is about all we can do.
its AQ, that's why.
its not looking good.
I've been praying and keeping the faith.
I can't get a vibe, good or bad on this! My biggest fear is he was auctioned off to somebody who would definitely have plans for them.
Thanks for the info!
That's the scary part. I can't get a vibe either.
It also might be one of the reasons why FOX has been so quiet and why the only reporting is to be done from the Israeli Bureau.
They just don't know and someone like Jennifer Griffith or Mike Tobin have the contacts and can better judge what little info they might have..
>>>This just doesn't have the same feel to it as other Gaza kidnappings.<<<
Absolutely. Something much more sinister is afoot. I think a huge ransom is being sought...money for global terrorists.
What are the odds they could have been taken to Iran?
I don't want to get into mindless speculation, only curious if that could be a real possibility.
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, says the Palestinians have told her the gunmen were acting on their own. She says her husband and the American "are friends of the Palestinians." She says they were telling the Palestinian story and, in her words, "There is no good reason for these two men to be held."
Translation: Pallywood reporters. They were not imbedded with the Palestinians, they were in bed with them.
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