The parents of the kidnapped journalist Alan Johnston celebrated his 45th birthday without him yesterday, forced to broadcast touching messages of support and reassurance in the hope they may reach him where- ever he is being held. The messages came as it was revealed that the government has been in talks with a jailed radical cleric in Britain over the possibility of him making an appeal for Mr Johnston's release. In a pre-recorded message from the family home outside Cairndow, Argyll, Graham Johnston told his son to "keep your chin up". "Hello Alan, happy birthday. We're all thinking about you all the time, constantly. It would be a much happier birthday if you were here with us today. All our fondest love, my son. Keep your chin up."
His mother, Margaret, gave a similar message of reassurance. "Happy birthday, Alan," she said. "We're missing you obviously. We're going over to Cairndow for lunch today with some friends, and we'll all be thinking about and missing you, and wishing you were with us. Your dad and your sister and I are all right, honestly. Lots of love." Both were broadcast by the BBC World Service in the hope that the journalist may have access to a television or radio.
| The government ... was in talks with the jailed cleric Abu Qatada ... about the possibility of him making an appeal for Mr Johnston to be freed. |
Vigils were held across the world yesterday to mark the correspondent's birthday.
The government confirmed yesterday it was in talks with the jailed cleric Abu Qatada, Osama bin Laden's spiritual figurehead in Europe, about the possibility of him making an appeal for Mr Johnston to be freed. It is understood that the cleric has offered to travel to Gaza with a BBC delegation in an effort to contact Mr Johnston's captors. In a letter to the London-based Islamic Observatory Centre, the cleric apparently claimed that the government did not seem to be "serious" about getting the journalist freed. He is said to have issued the letter because the "British government has been trying to deal with me in an incorrect manner in the matter of Alan Johnston".
Qatada, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, has been held in Britain, awaiting deportation, since 2005 on allegations that he raised funds for extremist groups and offered advice to Islamic extremists. He is said to be one of the Muslim prisoners in Britain that the Army of Islam has demanded be freed before they release Mr Johnston.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We have been in discussion with Abu Qatada via his lawyer with regards to making an appeal for his release." The Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled in February that Qatada could be deported to Jordan - where he has been convicted twice in his absence of involvement in terrorist plots - despite his legal team's arguments that he would face a flawed trial there.