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| Israel-Palestine |
| Palestinian Militants Release Activists |
| 2004-07-31 |
| EFL - the unnamed hostages are being portrayed as missionaries, but I can't imagine that anyone other than ISM fodder is walking around Palestinian territories. JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian gunmen abducted an American and two other foreign church volunteers late Friday and armed militants burned a Palestinian government building as internal Palestinian unrest resurfaced just days after a government crisis was resolved. The hostages were freed unharmed after about three hours in the West Bank city of Nablus under pressure from Palestinian authorities and other militant groups. The gunmen seized the hostages, who included a Briton and an Irishman, at gunpoint after separating them from some other colleages, Palestinian security officials said. Their identities were not released. State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore could not confirm the abduction but said they were looking into the reports. In Jenin, about a dozen armed militants wanted by Israel burned a building of the local Palestinian government to demand financial help from the Palestinian Authority, officials said. The gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is affiliated to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, broke into the building after work hours, fired automatic weapons into the offices and set the building on fire, said the officials. The militants say they need public support since they cannot work and must remain under ground to avoid capture by Israel. The two incidents, though apparently unrelated, were the worst internal unrest in the Palestinian territories since Arafat and his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, resolved a leadership crisis last Tuesday by agreeing to share control of the Palestinian security forces. A similar spate of kidnappings and attacks on the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip earlier this month triggered the crisis, one of the toughest Arafat has faced in the last decade. Four French volunteers were among those briefly kidnapped in Gaza. In the latest abductions, Palestinian security officials said five gunmen seized the foreigners, who came to Nablus more than three weeks ago on missionary activities, as they returned to their homes. No reason was given for the abduction. Officials said the kidnappers belonged to a renegade group of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The main militant group joined Palestinian security authorities in searching for the hostages, who were taken to the Balata refugee camp. Details of the release were sketchy, but the hostages were taken to the Palestinian intelligence headquarters. They declined to speak to reporters. -snip- |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #1 http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/07/31/mideast/index.html Three English teachers ... The three were not identified beyond their nationalities -- American, Irish and Finnish. The three who were abducted teach English at a Christian institution in Nablus, according to the governor's office. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-07-31 8:43:13 AM |