BBC reporter enters one month captivity in Gaza

Dozens of Palestinian journalists and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) marked on Thursday one month for the abduction of Alan Johnston, a reporter of the BBC in Gaza by unknown Palestinian gunmen.

Alan Johnston still remains in captivity at unknown location one month after he was snatched away from the street of Gaza on March 12, despite all the efforts to secure his release.

BBC director general Mark Thompson appealed for Johnston's release at a news conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

After meeting with Abbas Wednesday, Thompson said that "he told me that he had credible evidence that Alan was safe and well."

Thompson told reporters there that there had been no contacts with Johnston's captors and no demands from them.

Early last month, Johnston, who has been working in Gaza as a reporter for BBC since 2004, was stopped by unknown masked gunmen while he was driving his car and abducted him at a gunpoint. Till now, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

It is the most lengthy case for abduction of a foreigner in the lawless Gaza Strip since the kidnapping wave started two years ago, during which about 18 foreign citizens, including ten journalists, had been taken.

Abduction of foreigners has plagued Gaza these two years, although it is different from the brutal and often fatal abduction in Iraq. Hostages in Gaza were usually kept for several hours or several days and then freed unhurt.

Source: Xinhua