|
Kidnapped BBC man's fate hangs on clan feud
The arrest of two militants from the radical group holding BBC correspondent Alan Johnston hostage has put the journalist's life in great danger, according to sources in Gaza and within the group itself. Johnston, who was kidnapped on 12 March, today endures his 111th day in captivity. Late last night, members of Jaish al-Islam were due to meet to discuss his fate after two of their members were arrested earlier by Hamas security forces hoping to pressure the group - led by Mumtaz Dogmosh - into releasing the journalist. The revelation came even as members of the Dogmosh family - a notorious clan supplying most of the members of 'The Army of Islam' - continued desperate efforts to convince the group not to kill the 45-year-old Scot. However, moderate insiders said the radicals were in charge and out of patience with Hamas, the British government, and the BBC. 'We have tried to keep them talking and delaying, but now I fear they will not listen. We will know tonight,' said one Dogmosh member with close ties to Jaish al-Islam and who has been working to end the crisis for months. Hamas security forces snatched two members of Jaish al-Islam on their way from dawn prayers on Tuesday and held them at the former Fatah military intelligence HQ. According to a Jaish member, one of the arrested men was given a mobile phone to call his comrades as a start of negotiations to swap them for Johnston, but instead the man told them not to bargain for their freedom. The militant who said he took that call said: 'The brother told me to refuse all talks with Hamas and to kill Alan if Hamas kills him. This has ended any chance of negotiations.' Hamas police commander Abu Khalid said: 'There was an operation...to arrest two members of Jaish al-Islam to put pressure on the Dogmosh family. The response to this was that Mumtaz threatened all foreigners and journalists in Gaza. We have been patrolling the hotels and will protect any journalist who requests it. We need to keep Alan alive, so we wait, wait, wait. There is the need for patience, but the changes in the past two weeks show us patience could be finished. It could be days.' Jaish al-Islam is one of a number of small but effective splinter groups that has worked with Hamas in the past, most notably as a partner in last year's kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. But over the past year, it has moved away from Hamas in a series of political, religious and family disputes. much more at link Posted by: ryuge 2007-07-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=192215 |