Release of three journalists held hostage in Gaza City

Reporters Without Borders voiced relief at the release today of three journalists - Caroline Laurent of Elle, Alfred Yaghobzadeh of Sipa and Yong Tae-young of KBS - who were kidnapped yesterday from a Gaza City hotel by an armed group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) that claimed to belong to the “Jericho brigades.” They were abducted in reprisal for the raid which the Israeli army carried out on a prison in the West Bank city of Jericho in order to capture PFLP chief Ahmad Saadat, who was being held for the 2001 murder of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.03.2006 Call for the release of three journalists kidnapped in Gaza City Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about the kidnapping of two French journalists, Caroline Laurent of Elle and Alfred Yaghobzadeh of Sipa, and South Korean journalist Yong Tae-young of KBS yesterday in Gaza City, hours after an Israeli army raid on a prison in the West Bank city of Jericho. “We call on the kidnappers to free their hostages, who were just doing their job as journalists and can in no way be held responsible for Israeli army operations in the West Bank, and we call on the Palestinian authorities to do everything possible to locate them and ensure they are returned safe and sound to their families,” the organisation said. “We already urged the Palestinian authorities on several occasions to take steps to reinforce the protection of local and foreign journalists working in the Gaza Strip, but clearly nothing was done and we now hold them partially responsible for the appalling security situation still prevailing there,” Reporters Without Borders added. Four journalists were kidnapped last year in the Gaza Strip. All were freed by their kidnappers. In yesterday's kidnapping, the three journalists were taken from a central Gaza City hotel frequented by foreigners, just hours after Israeli troops stormed Jericho prison to capture Ahmad Saadat of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was being held for the 2001 murder of the Israeli tourism minister. Responsibility for the abduction of the journalists was later claimed by a PFLP-linked armed group that said it belonged to the “Jericho brigades.” A spokesman for the group said: “We want the Israeli forces to withdraw from Jericho and we ask the French government to intervene to protect Ahmad Saadat and the other prisoners.” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas later appealed for calm and urged Palestinians not to attack foreigners and European interests in the Palestinian territories.