Channels

Photo: AP
Steve Centanni
Photo: AP
Photo: Reuters
Olaf Wiig
Photo: Reuters

Gaza: Kidnapped Fox journalists appear on video

Previously unknown militant group ‘Holy Jihad Brigades’ claims responsibility for reporters’ kidnapping nine days ago, demand the release of ‘Muslim prisoners’ by US within 72 hours; ‘we're alive and well, in fairly good health,’ news correspondent Steve Centanni says on video

Two Fox journalists kidnapped in the Gaza Strip last week said they were in "fairly good health" and appealed for help to secure their freedom, a videotape released on Wednesday showed.

 

A previously unknown militant group, the "Holy Jihad Brigades," earlier claimed responsibility for the kidnapping nine days ago in the Palestinian coastal strip and demanded the United States release "Muslim prisoners" within 72 hours.

 

It did not say what would happen if the demand was ignored.

 


'Help us get out of here.' Olaf Wiig (L) and Steve Centanni (Photo: AFP)

 

Fox News Channel correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were shown sitting on a blanket on a floor. They sat against a black backdrop with no markings. No militants could be seen.

 

"We're alive and well, in fairly good health," Centanni said, speaking in a clear and calm voice.

 

"Just want to let you know I'm here and alive and give my love to my family and friends and ask you to do anything you can to try to help us get out of here."

 

Centanni said they had been treated well.

 

Wiig added: "I know my family will already be doing this, but if you could apply any political pressure ... both here in Gaza and the West Bank that would be much appreciated by both Steve and myself."

 

The video bore many hallmarks of tapes of captives issued by militants in Iraq, and the rhetoric of the group also mirrored the heavily religious language used by Iraqi insurgents.

 

Centanni and Wiig were abducted by masked gunmen in Gaza City on Aug. 14 as they were working on a story.

 

'We reject and condemn the kidnapping'

"Release what you have, and we will release what we have," the "Holy Jihad Brigades" said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

 

"It should include everybody without exception. We will give you 72 hours beginning from midday. If you implement our conditions we will implement our promise, otherwise you will have to wait."

 

Until Wednesday's statement, which contained verses from the Koran, no one had claimed responsibility for the abduction, which is now the longest-lasting in Gaza for more than a year.

 

Previous kidnappings -- there have been at least seven involving foreigners since August 2005, when Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza after 38 years of occupation -- have usually ended after a few hours, or at most a few days, of captivity.

 

Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the militant Islamist group Hamas have called for the release of the two captives. Palestinian security forces have been scouring Gaza for them.

 

Hamas said it was unaware of the "Holy Jihad Brigades."

 

"We reject and condemn the kidnapping of foreigners and journalists and we urge the kidnappers to immediately free them," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

 

British and American reporters have been warned not to go Gaza or to take extra precautions because of credible threats of additional kidnappings, Western diplomats said this week.

 

Palestinian militant groups that have briefly kidnapped foreigners in the past have usually done so over local grievances such as demands for jobs or the release of family members from Palestinian jails. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.23.06, 20:51
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment