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Alan Johnston gets to see how accurate his story was
Wonder if he thinks it's harmless fun now?Palestinian security services are still searching for the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston who, it is thought, was abducted in Gaza on Monday. Alan has reported from conflict zones including Afghanistan as well as Gaza as these extracts from his previous reports show. Jan, 2006: ABDUCTIONS IN GAZA In Iraq an abduction can end in the most brutal murder. But fortunately Gaza is not Iraq, nothing like it. So far, all the foreigners kidnapped here have been freed quite quickly and unharmed. Often they have been used as bargaining chips, a way for a group of gunmen to get attention. Gaza is awash with bands of militants: the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the Jenin Brigade, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigade and so on. They used to attack the occupying Israeli troops and settlers. But the settlements were abandoned in the autumn when the army pulled out, and now the boys from the Brigades find themselves with time on their hands. They want proper jobs in this poverty-stricken place, and usually they want to be allowed to join the security services. It is ironic really. Gaza is the only place in the world where your kidnapper's one demand is that he should be allowed to become a policeman. And the kidnap craze has thrown up moments of black humour. The gunmen are not always crack division militants, more Keystone Kidnappers. While an Italian journalist was being led off to a hideout he had to climb a fence. And when one of his abductors started the climb he absentmindedly handed the Italian his gun. Surely it is the first thing they teach you at kidnapper's school, never give the hostage your machinegun. And the whole business of kidnapping goes very much against the local social grain. Palestinians are extremely hospitable people, and one of the dangers of being abducted here must be that you could get fed to death. And the other day I heard that a foreign journalist wrongly thought he was about to be lifted, and being Japanese, he went into martial arts mode. Just part of the madness of Gaza, a Japanese journo mistakenly Kung Fu fighting in a refugee camp. I wonder how long he went at it before they could persuade him that it was not necessary. What you fear most is a bungled rescue attempt. Winkling out a hostage safely is not easy - even for the world's best trained police - and Gaza's finest could not really be described in that way. Oh, for crissakes, give them their big bags of money so I can come home and sign my book deal! Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-20 |
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