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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Al-Aqsa: We freed kidnapped US youth |
| 2006-10-12 |
| Dozens of armed gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades stormed the Nablus apartment where kidnapped US citizen Michael Leighton Phillips was being held and freed the American youth. Phillips was initially taken to the home of a PLO Executive Committee member’s home, where he was surrounded by dozens of media crews. Phillips spoke to Ynet immediately after his release and said he wasn't disappointed in the Palestinian people, “even though I can’t exactly say that they treated me kindly.” According to Phillips, he was held by his captors for 48 hours. “I don’t know who the kidnappers where or what they wanted, but I know who put me in the taxi that I was kidnapped from,” he said. He refused to describe how the kidnappers treated him, and only said: “I can’t say they treated my politely or kindly.” Earlier, the Ansar A-Sunna Palestinian terror group said it had kidnapped an American youth in Nablus and demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange for his release. The group is well known as being active in Iraq and identifies with al-Qaeda. In the afternoon hours, the kidnappers gathered a press conference to announce their demands: The release of women, children, elderly and infirm being held in Israeli prisons, and a halt to air force strikes on Palestinian areas. A blurred photocopy of a passport and student card carrying the American youth’s name was sent to the Reuters news agency. Palestinian residents of Nablus told Ynet that Phillips had been working for an UNRWA school in the Askar refugee camp for the past four months on a fully volunteer basis. "He loved the work, the students and the whole of the Palestinian people, and would bring gifts to his students because he felt their poverty,” a Nablus resident told Ynet. He defined the kidnapping as anti-national, unpatriotic and damaging to Palestinian interests. Ala Sanqara and Rabia Abu Leil, chiefs in the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who liberated Phillips, said that as soon as they learned of the kidnapping, al-Aqsa operatives searched all the places where gunmen affiliated with the organization hung out. From their perspective, they explained, freeing the captive became a national mission intended to prevent the sullying of the Palestinian image in the eyes of the international community. In an earlier conversation with Ynet, Abu Leil said al-Aqsa was in no way connected with the kidnapping. “Not only are we not connected, but we severely condemn the whole business. If this youth was kidnapped in Nablus itself, then this is very since the foreign youths that are here despite the circumstances are generally volunteers who come to help us by teaching and humanitarian aid.” |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 I'll be damned! They DON'T eat their young! |
| Posted by: Omitle Clurong5956 2006-10-12 19:49 |
| #6 Is he going for the Oscar or the Emmy? |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-10-12 14:42 |
| #5 Um, how about None of the Above, JE? Heh, Tony. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-12 06:44 |
| #4 Looks as though we still have to choose between the lesser of two thugs in Palestine; Hamas or Fatah. Good brown-nosing opportunity for Fatah though. |
| Posted by: Flerong Jaiting4297 2006-10-12 05:33 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 2006-10-12 05:14 |
| #2 Feh - this is just the Al-Aqsa wankers telling the Ansar A-Sunna onanists that noone kidnaps infidels on their turf 'cept them! That wall is really working, isn't it? I mean, the Paleos are reduced to kidnapping well-meaning (but stupid) American kids and then releasing them in a blaze of publicity or having their 'top men' (aka human bomb Mk 1) getting iced at checkpoints. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of pond-life. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-10-12 00:42 |
| #1 "to prevent the sullying of the Palestinian image in the eyes of the international community" Bwahaha! Snort...snort! Haha! That dude owes me a new monitor! |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-10-12 00:28 |