EFL - RTWTAn Egyptian diplomat abducted at gunpoint in the Gaza Strip was released early Saturday, officials said, a day after a previously unknown Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
Egyptian officials said Hussam Almousaly was unharmed and back at his home in Gaza City. Palestinian officials confirmed the release. The group that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping - calling itself the Al Ahrar Brigades, whose name means "the liberated people" in Arabic - had demanded the release of Palestinian criminals held in Egyptian jails. Major militant groups in Gaza, including those who have carried out other kidnappings in recent months, have condemned Thursday's abduction.
The Egyptian officials would not say how the release took place or whether the kidnappers' conditions had been met. The officials could not be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Earlier in Cairo, Egyptian security officials had claimed there are no Palestinians in Egyptian jails.
Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for the militant group Hamas, said late Friday that the group of kidnappers were using a false name. "This group is not known to the Palestinian people, which confirms that there are political reasons behind this kidnapping," he said.
The diplomat was kidnapped near the Egyptian mission in Gaza City on Thursday after two masked gunmen shot out the tires of his car.
Late Friday, a small group of Palestinian families gathered outside the Egyptian mission, lighting candles and waving Egyptian flags in a show of support for the diplomat.