Thursday, August 24, 2006
Experts say foreign extremists have a foothold in Gaza.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A previously unknown militant group demanded the release of Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails within 72 hours in exchange for two kidnapped Fox News journalists, who were shown sitting cross-legged and barefoot on the floor in a video released Wednesday.
The video, which broke 10 days of silence from the kidnappers, marked the first time militants in Gaza have issued demands going beyond the conflict with Israel.
The footage also had none of the trappings of locally produced videos, such as flags or masked gunmen, raising the possibility that foreign extremists may have taken root in Gaza.
Palestinian and Israeli officials say al-Qaida has been trying to infiltrate Gaza in the aftermath of Israel's withdrawal a year ago. The Egypt-Gaza border is now rife with smuggling tunnels, and Palestinian militant groups have blown up a border wall to allow people in and out of the area.
In the footage, American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of Washington, D.C., and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, appealed for help in getting released.
The images of the men sitting in a dark, drab room were the first sign of the journalists since they were abducted Aug. 14 from their TV van in Gaza City.
"Our captors are treating us well," Centanni said.
What's different
In a statement attached to the video, a group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades railed against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and characterized them as a war against Islam. It made no demands of Israel.
Local militant groups routinely try to limit the conflict to a fight between Palestinians and Israel, fearing they could otherwise cause a backlash against the Palestinian cause.
Major militant groups, including the ruling Hamas movement, have all condemned the kidnapping and called for the journalists' release.
Militants with ties to Hamas have been involved in kidnappings in the past, including the June 25 abduction of an Israeli soldier, aimed at winning the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails.
However, Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the government, criticized the kidnapping of the Fox journalists. "Our battle is against the occupation inside the Palestinian territories, and we are not taking our battle outside the Palestinian land," he said.
Boaz Ganor, an Israeli counterterrorism expert, said the absence of Palestinian demands in the statement made it "much more likely that this is part of an outside group."
Ganor said that since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Islamic militants with direct or indirect links to al-Qaida have sneaked into the territory. "They're now well-rooted in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Over the past two years, Palestinian militants have seized more than two dozen foreigners, usually to settle personal scores, but released them unharmed within hours. The holding of the Fox journalists is the longest so far.
A Palestinian security official close to the investigation said there were several signs that an outside group was behind the kidnapping.
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