BBC Journalist Alan Johnston freed

Nidal al-Mughrabi. Reuters/Gaza 

Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in the Gaza strip, was freed Wednesday after a deal between the ruling Hamas Islamist and the al-Qaeda-inspired clan group that kidnapped him in March.“It is just the most fantastic thing to be free. It was an appaling experience,” he told the British public broadcaster from the home of local Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his 114-day ordeal at the hands of the shadowy Army of Islam.

Johnston said he was ill at times but only at the last did they “hit me a bit” during a midnight drive to freedom. Often in solitary confinement, he did not see the sun for three months.Haniyeh, whose movement routed the forces of the secular, Western-backed Palestinian president last month to seize full control of the coastal enclave, said the outcome “confirms (Hamas) is serious in imposing security and stability.” Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’s exiled overall leader, told Reuters it contrasted with “anarchy” prevailing when the Fatah faction of West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas was active in Gaza.But, in a mark of the bitterness dividing Palestinians, a senior aide to Abbas dismissed Hamas’ statements as “a movie” and “falling out among thieves” between Hamas and the Army of Islam, whose rhetoric echoes that of al-Qaeda groups elsewhere.

Abbas himself welcomed the end of an abduction he said had harmed all Palestinians and said armed groups must be dissolved.Johnston, the only western correspondentbased full-time in the troubled coastal strip, said he sensed his captors felt new pressure after Hamas defeated Fatah three weeks ago. “When Hamas took control, that changed the atmosphere completely,” he said.He described them as “A small jihadi group:” more interested in harming Britain than in the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Israel said that Hamas should now free an Israeli soldier whom Hamas’ own militants have held captive in Gaza for a year.

Negotiators were backed by Hamas fighters cordoning off the stronghold of the armed Doghmush clan. Officials say some of its members are behind the Army of Islam, whose precise links, if any, to foreign al-Qaeda groups are unclear.Mediators said a Muslim cleric’s “fatwa” clinched Johnston release –but also noted Hamas forces had detained leading clan figures and then let them go in return for the hostage.They said there was no ransom or other conditions. The group had demanded Britain and other states free Islamist prisoners. “I dreamt many times of being free and always woke up back in that room. Now it relly is over and it is indescribably good to be out,” said Johnston, a Scot who turned 45 in captivity.

Describing it as the worst time his life and “like being buried alive”, he told a news conference: “It’s almost hard to believe that I’m not going to wake up in that room.”He feared for his life immediately after being seized on March 12, as well as when he was filmed wearing an explosive vest by captors who warned Hamas forces not to try to free him.

British diplomats whisked Johnston by road to the consulate in Jerusalem. Britain and other powers recognize only Abbas’ new government in the West Bank as legitimate in the Palestinian territories and again called on Hamas to renounce violence. But Foreign Secretary David Miliband also acknowledge the “crucial role” Haniyeh and Hamas played in Johnston’s case.Haniyeh, elected 18 months ago, still calls himself prime minister but was fired by Abbas after last month’s violence.Johnston thanked people round the world and colleagues for their support. The BBC said in a statement it was “extremely relieved.” Johnston’s family said the were “overjoyed” after a “living nightmare”. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed it as a “great relief”. 

Source: The Jakarta Post newspaper, Thursday (5/7). p.3.