Official met kidnapped BBC journalist: report

A Palestinian government spokesman met several times with a kidnapped BBC reporter in Gaza, a pro-Hamas daily reported yesterday.

The Palestinian newspaper added that spokesman Ghazi Hamad has embarked on a low-profile visit to London to discuss the release of an Al-Qaida-linked figure in exchange for the release of Alan Johnston, as the journalist's have demanded.

The British government invited Hamad to visit the UK to discuss the release of Abu Qatada who has been held in London following the London bombings of 2005, said the newspaper.

The Army of Islam, a little-known Islamic group which joined Hamas in kidnapping an Israeli soldier almost a year ago, has claimed responsibility for kidnapping Johnston, a 45-year-old British journalist working for the BBC in Gaza.

Johnston was the only Western reporter to stay full time in strife-ridden Gaza. He disappeared on March 12.

"We demand that Britain free our prisoners, particularly the honorable Sheikh Abu Qatada al Filistini," said a speaker on a recording, posted on the Internet on May 9 by the Army of Islam.

The authenticity of the tape could not be verified.

Abu Qatada, a radical Islamic cleric suspected of close links to Al-Qaida, has been described by the British government as a "significant international terrorist".

He is one of more than a dozen Arabs whom Britain has been holding under detention or house arrest as threats to national security, while acknowledging that it does not have sufficient evidence to put them on trial.

Hamad told Sky News on Sunday he could confirm Johnston was alive and being held captive.

The Palestinian government has made great efforts to have him released, Hamad said at a book festival in the British town of Hay-on-Wye. "We have different channels, different contacts to reach these people and I am sure that he is well and he is healthy," he said.

"We are still continuing our efforts to release him and I hope in a very, very close time we can do it."

Hamad said the people holding Johnston had some "political demands" which he did not specify. "I think sooner or later Alan Johnston will be released," he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman had no comment on Hamad's statement. Commenting on the presence in Britain of Hamad, a member of Hamas, he said there had been no change in British policy towards the Islamist group. "We don't engage with Hamas officials on policy discussions," he said.

While he could not comment on a particular case, he said visa applications were dealt with on a case-by-case basis and applications were assessed against strict criteria.

One criterion was that there should be no indication the applicant had been involved in or supported violence, he said.

Source: China Daily/agencies