Hamas issues Johnston ultimatum

18/06/2007| IslamWeb

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has threatened to use force to release BBC reporter Alan Johnston by the end of Monday if he is not set free.

"Today is the last day for the captors to release Alan Johnston," a senior Hamas official said.

The reporter was abducted in March by a group calling itself The Army of Islam.

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last week and was ousted from the Palestinian government, has said reporters should be treated as guests.

"If he is not released, we would use all means to secure his life and to free him," a senior Hamas official told Reuters news agency.

The official who made the statement is thought to be Mahmoud Zahhar, the former Palestinian foreign minister who is believed to be a leader of Hamas.

The UK government said the statement was "disturbing".

"This has to be handled with great delicacy," said Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells.

"Hamas will know very very well that there are very delicate negotiations that have been going on, and we hope that they are not using this as some sort of publicity stunt to win favor with some elements in the West."

On Friday, Hamas said it would no longer allow Johnston to be held captive and that it was in contact with the journalists' abductors.

The Army of Islam has threatened to kill the BBC man if certain Islamist prisoners - in particular Palestinian-born cleric Abu Qatada, who is detained in the UK - are not released.

In a video released on Sunday, Johnston's captors denied they had reached a deal with Hamas for his imminent release but acknowledged that there had been "developments" in meetings with Hamas.

"There are developments and we will let you know when there are new developments," a masked spokesman said.

"If they do not meet these demands there will be no release of this prisoner, but if things get worse we will get closer to God by killing this journalist."

Johnston was the only Western reporter permanently based in Gaza, and his abduction has triggered appeals for his release from lawmakers and rights groups around the world.

Several foreigners have been seized in Gaza in recent years and all have been released unharmed, but none has been held as long as the BBC reporter.

PHOTO CAPTION

BBC reporter Alan Johnston