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Maybe good news! I hope this is true!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3770793a10,00.html

McNaught told husband safe
20 August 2006
By DEIDRE MUSSEN

Kidnapped New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig is alive and well, his wife has been assured by the Palestinian president.

Broadcaster Anita McNaught met President Mahmoud Abbas late last week - one of a series of top-level meetings held in a bid to secure the release of Wiig, 36, and his fellow Fox News journalist, American Steve Centanni, 60.

Both were snatched at gunpoint on Monday in Gaza City.

Wiig's father, Reverend Roger Wiig, told the Sunday Star-Times yesterday: "She met with Abbas and was sitting on a chair right beside him when he assured her that Olaf was alive and well.

"I think he had assurances from some groups who say they know that."

Abbas also told McNaught her husband and Centanni were guests in his country and their safety was paramount.

Despite the assurances McNaught, who met her husband while they were both working for TV3 in Auckland, made a tearful televised plea yesterday for information on the whereabouts of the two kidnapped journalists.

Throughout her appeal, McNaught fought back tears and kept her hands balled in tight fists.

"If somebody knows any information, can you please tell us because I want him home so much," she said.

"He and his colleague, Steve, don't deserve this. They are good men, they are good men and they should be allowed to come home. Please let him come home. Please," McNaught said before breaking down in tears.

All major militant groups in Palestine have denied involvement in the kidnappings.

A huge diplomatic effort has been launched by New Zealand, America, the United Kingdom and Palestine to secure their release.

But Rev Wiig said fears for the journalists' safety were rising because of the length of time without contact.

McNaught, who arrived in Gaza on Wednesday, was in high-level meetings until midnight on Friday (9am yesterday NZ time), discussing the pair's plight. She is hoping to meet with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Wiig said President Abbas had stepped up security surrounding McNaught to ensure her safety, providing armed guards wherever she went.

Staff at the Fox News bureau in Gaza where she spends most of her day describe her as composed and strong although under tremendous stress.

Olaf Wiig's parents moved to London from New Zealand five years ago to be closer to their son and McNaught. They were visiting family in New Zealand when the kidnapping occurred on Monday.

"It was going to be a brief holiday but it has turned into a nightmare."

Olaf Wiig's identical twin, Sven, a Wellington art director, told his father that he intuitively felt his brother was OK.

Their sister, Kjersten, a neuroscientist in America, was finding the waiting very stressful.

"It's probably toughest on his mother and grandmother," said Roger Wiig.

Olaf Wiig was born in Cambridge and attended school in Palmerston North. He had worked in many war zones and was used to handling dangerous situations, his father said