Last update - 00:00 04/04/2007
PLC cancels session as entrance blocked by protest of BBC reporter's abduction
By The Associated Press
Palestinian lawmakers called off a rare parliamentary session on Wednesday after entrance to the Gaza building was blocked by a protest over the abduction of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston.
The demonstration was a part of a three-day strike by Palestinian media to protest the government's inability to find Johnston, who was kidnapped on March 12 in Gaza City. There has been no word on Johnston since and no claim of responsibility by any group. He is now the longest-held reporter in captivity in Gaza, which has prompted concerns about his fate.
Around 40 Palestinian journalists, aid workers and intellectuals, some with tape symbolically placed over their mouths, blocked lawmakers from attending the session. The group had broken off from a larger protest nearby.
Blue-uniformed police and armed bodyguards of the lawmakers attempted to stop the protesters, but failed, stranding lawmakers outside. Many lawmakers then stood with the protesters, listening to their speeches. Officials then formally canceled the session, saying they could not form a quorum.
"We've had no word on Alan, on the twenty-third day of his detention," said Sakher Abu Aoun, a leader in the journalists union. "We are shamed that we have nothing to tell his elderly parents. The executive and legislative bodies must be responsible for the safety of journalists."
The Palestinian Interior Ministry has repeatedly said it is exerting all efforts to find Johnston.
On Tuesday, journalists boycotted a meeting between the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Many officials said they suspected that members of the powerful Doghmush clan took Johnston, believing that security officials - both those loyal to the Islamist group Hamas and its rival Fatah - were reluctant to pursue it, fearful of antagonizing the heavily armed family. But a Doghmush leader publicly denied his family's involvement in the kidnapping on Tuesday.
Eleven journalists have been kidnapped in Gaza over the past three years. All were released unharmed, most within days of capture. Kidnappers typically demand money or jobs from the Palestinian Authority. They are rarely punished, which critics say has encouraged the kidnapping of foreigners as a lucrative enterprise with few drawbacks.