Last update - 00:00 05/07/2007
U.S.: Johnston's release won't change world view of Hamas
By The Associated Press
The United States said Thursday that Hamas' role in freeing British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent Alan Johnston has not changed the world's opinion of the Islamic militant group.
Johnston, who was kidnapped in Gaza on March 12, was set free after Hamas struck a murky deal with the Army of Islam, an al-Qaida-inspired group that held Johnston for nearly four months. The only detail of the release deal that has been made public is that Hamas pledged not to dismantle or disarm the group.
Hamas hopes Johnston's release will prod the international community into easing a long-standing boycott of the group, based on its militant ideology.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, however, "I don't think the world views Hamas any differently as a result of this."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Hamas' help in freeing Johnston showed goodwill but was not enough to change France's policy toward the group.
Kouchner added that France continues to recognize Abbas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian Authority.
Freed BBC reporter travels to West Bank to thank Abbas
Also Thursday, Johnston traveled to the West Bank to thank Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people for their support during his 16 weeks in captivity in Gaza.
"I came to the West Bank to say thank you to the president for his support and also came to say thank you very much to the Palestinians, especially to the journalists in the West Bank," Johnston told reporters after meeting with Abbas in Ramallah, the seat of the emergency Cabinet Abbas established after Hamas violently seized contol over Gaza last month.
"I had a radio, I know how much the Palestinians were doing here to work for my release," he said.
On Wednesday, Johnston recounted how that radio was his only link to the outside world during his solitary confinement in Gaza - and a source of comfort when it picked up programs reporting frantic efforts to free him.