Militants in the Gaza Strip freed two kidnapped journalists from
the American Fox News Channel Sunday after forcing them at gunpoint
to say in a videotape they had converted to Islam.
Correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New
Zealand-born cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, looked happy but tired after
two weeks of captivity in the Palestinian coastal strip.
A previously unknown group called the Holy Jihad Brigades had
made a sweeping demand for the United States to free Muslim
prisoners in exchange for the release of the men.
"I am really fine, healthy, in good shape and so happy to be
free," Centanni told the Fox Channel.
He said that he and Wiig had been forced at gunpoint to say they
were converting to Islam.
"I'm thinking: 'Oh God, a remote warehouse with a big noisy
generator, they could simply shoot me in the head and nobody would
hear it'," Centanni said.
"I have the highest respect for Islam... but it was something we
felt we had to do because they had the guns and we didn't know what
the hell was going on."
The men had an emotional reunion with colleagues inside a Gaza
hotel, where they later met Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh of the Hamas movement.
In a short news conference, both men said they hoped their
kidnapping would not scare the foreign media away from Gaza. "That
would be a great tragedy for the people of Palestine, and
especially for the people of Gaza," said Wiig.
The two journalists later crossed into Israel at the Erez border
terminal.
They were seized on August 14 while working on a story in Gaza
City. Theirs was one of the longest abductions of foreigners in
Gaza in years.
Haniyeh said the kidnappers had nothing to do with al-Qaida or
any known Palestinian groups. Hamas and other militant groups had
condemned the abduction.
Videos of the captives released by the militants had borne all
the hallmarks of hostage tapes shot by insurgents in Iraq.
"These are young men who carried out the action out of private
beliefs," Haniyeh told reporters.
Officials said no arrests had been made. Palestinian officials
from Hamas had previously suggested they were in contact with the
kidnappers via third parties in Gaza.
In videotape released earlier Sunday, Centanni and Wiig were
shown separately sitting cross-legged, reading statements
announcing that they had converted to Islam. At times in the video
they were wearing long Arab robes.
"I changed my name to Khaled. I have embraced Islam and say the
word 'Allah,'" Centanni said.
John Moody, a senior vice-president of Fox, said he was not
aware of any conditions agreed for the release of the reporters,
although the video appeared to be a factor.
(China Daily August 28, 2006)
