Mr.Sam
04-07-2007, 02:41 PM
He was freed at 2am gmt.
Him Being released:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Z9MTJV0bE
Interview 2 hours after:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uqIWwv58cPI&mode=user&search=
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been released by kidnappers in the Gaza Strip after 114 days in captivity. Mr Johnston, 45, was handed over to armed men in Gaza City. He said his ordeal was like "being buried alive" but it was "fantastic" to be free.
Speaking live from Jerusalem later, he thanked those who had supported him, and vowed to return to "obscurity".
Rallies worldwide had called for Mr Johnston's release. An online petition was signed by some 200,000 people.
Mr Johnston's father Graham said he and his wife were "overjoyed" at their son's release.
"It's been 114 days of a living nightmare," he said.
Gordon Brown, in his first prime minister's questions session in the UK parliament, said: "The whole country will welcome the news that Alan Johnston, a fearless journalist whose voice was silenced for too long, is now free."
Mr Brown acknowledged the "crucial" role played by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in securing Mr Johnston's release.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42460000/jpg/_42460274_video.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif I literally dreamt many times of being free and always woke up back in that room http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif
Alan Johnston
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Hamas role in release (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6268232.stm)
Johnston describes ordeal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6268102.stm)
But a spokesman for Mr Brown said Britain's policy towards Hamas had not changed, and the movement was still expected to recognise Israel and show a commitment to non-violence.
The BBC reporter was handed over to officials of Hamas, which controls Gaza, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
He later appeared beside Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, and thanked everyone who had worked for his release. Mr Johnston is now at the British Consulate in Jerusalem but is not expected to fly home on Wednesday.
Hamas gunmen overran Gaza last month, expelling their rivals from the Fatah faction and prompting its leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to sack Mr Haniya as prime minister.
Mr Haniya said the result "confirms [Hamas] is serious in imposing security and stability and maintaining law and order in this very dear part of our homeland".
He also said he hoped a deal could now be reached for the release of the Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since being seized in a border raid by three militant groups a year ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6267928.stm
Him Being released:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Z9MTJV0bE
Interview 2 hours after:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uqIWwv58cPI&mode=user&search=
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been released by kidnappers in the Gaza Strip after 114 days in captivity. Mr Johnston, 45, was handed over to armed men in Gaza City. He said his ordeal was like "being buried alive" but it was "fantastic" to be free.
Speaking live from Jerusalem later, he thanked those who had supported him, and vowed to return to "obscurity".
Rallies worldwide had called for Mr Johnston's release. An online petition was signed by some 200,000 people.
Mr Johnston's father Graham said he and his wife were "overjoyed" at their son's release.
"It's been 114 days of a living nightmare," he said.
Gordon Brown, in his first prime minister's questions session in the UK parliament, said: "The whole country will welcome the news that Alan Johnston, a fearless journalist whose voice was silenced for too long, is now free."
Mr Brown acknowledged the "crucial" role played by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in securing Mr Johnston's release.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42460000/jpg/_42460274_video.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif I literally dreamt many times of being free and always woke up back in that room http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif
Alan Johnston
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Hamas role in release (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6268232.stm)
Johnston describes ordeal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6268102.stm)
But a spokesman for Mr Brown said Britain's policy towards Hamas had not changed, and the movement was still expected to recognise Israel and show a commitment to non-violence.
The BBC reporter was handed over to officials of Hamas, which controls Gaza, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
He later appeared beside Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, and thanked everyone who had worked for his release. Mr Johnston is now at the British Consulate in Jerusalem but is not expected to fly home on Wednesday.
Hamas gunmen overran Gaza last month, expelling their rivals from the Fatah faction and prompting its leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to sack Mr Haniya as prime minister.
Mr Haniya said the result "confirms [Hamas] is serious in imposing security and stability and maintaining law and order in this very dear part of our homeland".
He also said he hoped a deal could now be reached for the release of the Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since being seized in a border raid by three militant groups a year ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6267928.stm