Alan Johnston, the kidnapped Scottish journalist, is alive and well and might soon be released, a Palestinian government official has claimed. Speaking at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival in Wales, Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas government spokesman, said he knew the group holding the BBC's Gaza correspondent and was personally involved in negotiations to free him. | Um. What the h*ll was a Hamas spokescritter doing in Wales at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival??????? |
"I know he is well and healthy, and in a good situation. No-one has tried to harm him or hurt him," he said. "I think there are continuous efforts to release him. We hope we can do it very, very soon." Mr Hamad said the people holding Mr Johnston had some "political demands", which he did not specify. Mr Hamad said he had "a lot" of information about the situation, but was not authorised to elaborate, saying efforts to release him are reaching a crucial stage and a breakthrough could be made soon. He said a "small group" had kidnapped Mr Johnston, and that he knows their identity. "I have my own channels to talk to these people," he said.
Snipped all the stuff about Abu Mazen, who has no ability to affect this situation in any way.
A Foreign Office spokesman had no comment on Mr Hamad's statement. Commenting on the presence in Britain of Mr Hamad, the spokesman said there had been no change in British policy towards the Islamist group. He added: "We don't engage with Hamas officials on policy discussions." | "We just invite them to our literary festivals to read bedtimes stories to our little kids." |
The government also said it would not do any deals to secure the journalist's release. |