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May 09 2007 at 01:10PM |
Gaza City - The Islamic movement Hamas on Wednesday condemned a radical Palestinian group claiming to be holding BBC newsman Alan Johnston, who was snatched in the Gaza Strip nearly two months ago.
Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinian government, declared it no longer had ties with Jeish al-Islam, or Army of Islam, which has released a tape demanding the release of a radical Muslim cleric jailed in Britain.
"We reject these methods used by certain Muslim believers because they harm Islam. The affair of Alan Johnston is immoral and we call on his holders to release him," the Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, Ayman Taha, told AFP.
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In a sound recording, the Army of Islam said it was responsible for the March 12 abduction of the Briton who was snatched at gunpoint on his way home from work in the first claim for the high-profile kidnapping.
In London, the BBC said it was studying the contents of a tape purportedly from the kidnappers of Johnston, who has become the longest-held Westerner in the increasingly lawless Gaza Strip, but declined to comment further.
Hamas and the Army of Islam together with the radical Popular Resistance Committees claimed joint responsibility for the capture of Israeli serviceman Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid near Gaza last June.
"There are no ties today between the Army of Islam regarding Gilad Shalit. Actually, only Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees are holding him," Taha said.
"From the start, the Army of Islam and Hamas were connected only over Gilad Shalit. After a while, these ties were cut after the Army of Islam changed its approach," he said.
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United front: Journalist have gathered outside the Syndicate of Journalists in Cairo to call for the freedom of kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston who has been missing since 12 March. Photo: AFP
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