Posted on 08/26/2006 9:02:12 AM PDT by jdm
Palestinian officials said today they expected to have “good news” about the two Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza City within two days and believe they are unharmed.
The journalists, American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of Washington, DC, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, who has family in West Sussex, were seized in Gaza City on August 14.
Their captors demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the US by midnight today, in exchange for freeing the pair.
The kidnappers, a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades, did not say what it would do to the men if the deadline passed with the demands unanswered.
It is not clear whether the kidnappers were local militants, either with ties to Hamas or the rival Fatah movement, or sneaked into Gaza from outside.
“I hope that we can hear good news within the coming two days,” government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said today. Hamad did not explain on what this assessment was based.
Later, Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said the journalists were apparently unharmed.
“The information available to us is that they are fine and are not harmed,” said Abu Hilal.
He added that the authorities were exerting efforts to release the journalists, but were not negotiating with the kidnappers.
“I want to clarify that the efforts are not negotiations,” he said. “But we want to get to positive results which is their release and that is all.”
On Wednesday, the kidnappers released video of the hostages for the first time.
Wearing track suits, Centanni and Wiig were seen sitting cross-legged on the floor of a dark apartment. They said they were being treated well.
In a statement accompanying the video, the kidnappers said a 72-hour countdown for the release of Muslim prisoners began at midnight Wednesday, meaning the deadline would be midnight today.
However, there appeared to be some confusion among Palestinian officials about the deadline. Interior Ministry officials said they believe the deadline passed at noon today.
In the past two years, Palestinian militants have seized more than two dozen foreigners, usually to settle personal scores, but released them unharmed within hours. The holding of the Fox journalists is the longest so far.
Wiig’s wife, former BBC presenter Anita McNaught, travelled to Gaza soon after the kidnapping to appeal for the men’s safe release. Centanni’s brother, Ken, has made a similar plea.
Yesterday Ms McNaught, who has lived in Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, for six years, made a fresh television appeal in Gaza for their release.
Appealing to the kidnappers, she said: “I don’t question that you, who are holding them, have suffered greatly, as everyone in Gaza and the Palestinian territories is suffering, but these two men are not responsible for the injustices that you speak of.”
Earlier, Ms McNaught’s aunt, Alison Mountain, who lives next door to her niece in Horsted Keynes, said Wiig would be handling the situation with a sense of calm.
She said: “I think Olaf will be taking it pretty well. He won’t be hysterical, he’ll be calm and dealing with it in the best way he can.
“He has been to Beirut three times so is fairly experienced in dealing with dangerous situations.
“Anita has been terribly upset by what has happened, but – rightly or wrongly - she felt the best thing for her was to head out there and make these appeals.
“I’ve got used to what has happened and resigned myself to the fact that there is nothing I can do except hope. That’s all we can do.”
Civil rights leader the Rev Jesse Jackson also called for the two men to be freed.
“They are in a crisis they did not create. They should not be kept as trophies and we appeal for their release,” Jackson told New Zealand television network TV3.
Jackson is leading an ecumenical delegation to the Middle East this weekend to meet political and religious leaders about the kidnapping and other developments in the region, including the capture of three Israeli soldiers by Islamic militants.
Good news for Hamas usually means bad news for the civilized world.
The check must have cleared.
They are probably being held in Syria or Iran, and it takes time to get communicatioins by camel train.
I hear they're quicker than amazon.com.
Just keep praying for their safety.
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