ஆட்டை வெட்டுவது போல வெட்டுவோம்

பிபிஸி ஜர்னலிஸ்ட் ஆலன் ஜான்ஸ்டன் என்பவரை பாலஸ்தீன பயங்கரவாதிகள் கடத்தி சிறைபிடித்துள்ளனர்.

பிரிட்டனும் ஜோர்டனும் குறிப்பிட்ட சில முஸ்லீம் சிறைக்கைதிகளை விடுவிக்கவில்லை என்றால் இவரை ஆட்டை வெட்டுவதுபோல வெட்டுவோம் என்று எச்சரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளனர்.


Captors of BBC journalist make chilling threat
Sakher Abu El Oun | Gaza City, Gaza Strip

26 June 2007 06:37

The Palestinian extremists claiming to hold BBC journalist Alan Johnston on Tuesday issued a chilling threat to slaughter him "like a lamb" unless Britain and Jordan release Muslim prisoners.

In a statement emailed to Agence France-Presse, the Army of Islam demanded the release of an Iraqi woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, who has been sentenced to death in Jordan over triple hotel attacks in Amman that killed 60 people in November 2005.

It also demanded the release of Abu Mohammed al-Maqdissi -- held in Jordan since July 2005 -- and Palestinian-born radical cleric Abu Qatada, once fingered as al-Qaeda's "spiritual head" in Europe and held in Britain.

Al-Maqdissi is a former mentor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda chief in Iraq who was killed in a United States air strike in June last year.

"Our demands are known to all, release the three hostages, Sajida, the Palestinian Abu Qatada and Abu Mohammed al-Maqdissi. There will be no compromise, he [Johnston] will either stay in captivity for 1 000 years or be slaughtered like a lamb," the group said.

The grotesque threat came just two days after the British journalist appeared in a grim new video, saying he was wearing a bomb belt that his Gaza captors would detonate if there was any attempt to rescue him.

The emergence of the fresh death threat on Tuesday was only set to increase the distress of his parents, Graham and Margaret, and colleagues at the BBC who have campaigned tirelessly to keep his plight in the media spotlight.

Johnston, an award-winning journalist who was the only Western reporter still based permanently in the Gaza Strip when he was snatched at gunpoint on March 12, has been held in captivity for 105 days.

"As you can see I've been dressed in what is an explosive belt, which the kidnappers say will be detonated if there's any attempt to storm this area," said Johnston in a video provided by the US-based IntelCenter on Monday.

"They say they are ready to turn the hideout into what they describe as a death zone if there's an attempt to free me by force," he added, pale and forlorn-looking, wearing a number of packages strapped around his chest.

The 45-year-old has been held far longer than any other Westerner in the Gaza Strip since he was kidnapped at gunpoint while driving home from the office in the increasingly volatile territory.

Radical Islamist movement Hamas, which says it has cut previous ties with the fringe Army of Islam group, has demanded Johnston's immediate release both before and since its armed takeover of the Gaza Strip 12 days ago.

Johnston's plight has sparked rallies and messages of support from all over the world, and an online petition calling for his release has been signed by more than 170 000 people. -- Sapa-AFP