Demonstration in Paris to press for Alan Johnston's release as he completes two months in captivity

Reporters Without Borders activists, BBC staff members and the Palestinian Authority's representative in France, Hind Khoury, demonstrated outside the Palestinian diplomatic representation in Paris today to demand the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who begins his third month as a hostage in Gaza tomorrow. “As the Palestinian Authority's delegate and as a Palestinian, I condemn this cowardly act,” Khoury said in French and in Arabic, referring to Johnston's abduction by gunmen in Gaza City on 12 March. “Alan is a friend of Palestine and his detention is unacceptable,” she said, insisting that President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh have been trying day after day to get him released in a manner that guarantees his safety. Stressing the demonstration's importance and calling for Johnston's immediate release, Reporters Without Borders news and information editor Jean-François Julliard said he was “the victim of the anarchy reigning in the Gaza Strip.” “We appeal to his kidnappers to respect the work of journalists, who should not be seen as targets,” Julliard said. “Despite the many risks attached to his profession, Johnston went to the Gaza Strip to tell the world what is happening there. We reiterate our full support for his family, who are going through a terrible ordeal.” Clive Myrie, a journalist with the BBC's bureau in Paris, paid tribute to his colleague. “He stayed so long -- and after so many colleagues had left -- because he wanted to tell the story of Gaza to the world. And to tell it, not from a studio in London, voicing over someone else's pictures. But on the ground -- an eyewitness to what was going on -- among the people of Gaza. He has done so with great humanity, but also with objectivity and impartiality. There can be no benefit to anyone in holding a journalist like Alan Johnston. Nobody gains anything, there are no winners. But the loss is immense,” Myrie said. Johnston's abduction has been the subject of protests in Gaza and abroad from the moment it took place. The Union of Palestinian Journalists has staged many demonstrations in Gaza during the past two months to demand his release. Reporters Without Borders brought many journalists who have been hostages in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip together for a news conference in Paris on World Press Freedom Day on 3 May to highlight the growing problem of journalists being kidnapped. Steve Centanni, a Fox News journalist who was kidnapped in Gaza in August 2006, said at the news conference that his thoughts went out to Johnston. Ten leading representatives of the Muslim community in Europe, including the head of the Paris Grand Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, also condemned Johnston's abduction and demanded his release. Johnston is the 14 journalist to be kidnapped in the Gaza Strip since 2005. None of the others was held for such a long time. The list of journalist who have been taken hostage in the Gaza Strip since 2005: - Ramon Lobo and Carmen Secanella, held for less than two hours. - Mohammed Ouathi, held for nine days. - Lorenzo Cremonesi, held for a day. - Dion Nissenbaum and Adam Pletts, held for several hours. - Caroline Laurent, Alfred Yaghobzadeh and Yong Tae-young, held for a day. - Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig, held for 14 days. - Emilio Morenatti, held for several hours. - Jaime Razuri, held for seven days. - Alan Johnston, still held.