Last update - 00:00 25/04/2007
Journalists hold rally for release of BBC reporter abducted in Gaza
By Reuters
Dozens of foreign and Palestinian journalists demonstrated on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border Wednesday, to demand the release of a BBC reporter who has been missing for 45 days, and presumed kidnapped.
Alan Johnston, 44, the only foreign correspondent based full-time in Gaza, has not been heard of since his car was found abandoned on March 12.
Jonathan Baker, deputy head of newsgathering for the British public broadcaster, said the BBC still had no hard information on Johnston's fate.
"We make a plea directly to those who are holding Alan, to set him free. His only offence was to expose himself to personal danger because of a strong desire to bring the story of Gaza to the outside world," Baker said. "He has suffered enough. Let him go."
Johnston's disappearance, by far the longest of several kidnappings of foreigners in the Gaza Strip over the past year, has forced many media organizations to suspend visits by foreign staff.
"This place is as far as many of us now feel safe to go," Simon McGregor-Wood, chairman of the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association, told about 100 journalists gathered on the Israeli side of the Erez Crossing.
"We need to go to Gaza," McGregor-Wood said. "We need to... tell its people's stories. We need these kidnappings to stop."
Several dozen journalists, mainly Palestinians who have campaigned actively within the enclave for Johnston's release, held a twin demonstration on the Gaza side of the border.
When the rally on the Israeli side concluded, a small group of journalists crossed the border into Gaza to greet their Palestinian counterparts.
"This is a joint effort ... to show solidarity on both sides of the border in order to call on every individual involved to free Alan," said Nidal al-Mugrabi, an activist in the Palestinian journalists' union.
Palestinian government officials have on several occasions given assurances that Johnston is well, despite a claim earlier this month that an Al-Qaida-linked group had killed him.
It remains unclear which of the many armed groups in the crowded and violent coastal strip may be holding him or why.
The kidnapping and killing of foreigners, including journalists, has become an increasing hazard for media covering conflicts around the world, notably in Iraq where foreign journalists are severely limited in their ability to travel.