Foreigners kidnapped in Gaza

2005-07-13 14:44

Gaza City - Two engineers from Britain and Austria have been kidnapped and are being held at a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after being snatched by a Palestinian family trying to secure the release of their jailed relatives.

A fellow employee of the two men, who asked for the pair not to be identified but confirmed that they were Austrian and British nationals, said the pair had been abducted overnight from outside their house in Gaza City.

British diplomats said they were liaising with the Palestinian Authority to try to secure the pair's release.

"We are working with the Palestinian Authority. We have consulate staff in Gaza liaising with Palestinian officials," Ross Allen, a spokesperson for the British consulate in east Jerusalem said.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian interior ministry confirmed that the pair were being held at the Bureij refugee camp, to the south of Gaza City.

"We can confirm that two foreigners have been kidnapped and are being held at the Bureij camp by members of a family. It is not related to any political activity but a family dispute," the spokesperson said.

"The interior ministry is pursuing this matter seriously. (Interior minister) General (Nasr) Yussef have given instructions to all the security branches to work to solve this case as soon as possible."

Security sources said that the family behind the abductions were trying to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to secure the release of seven of their relatives who are currently in prison for activity that is not related to the conflict with Israel.

The pair's fellow worker expressed confidence that his colleagues would soon be freed as has been the case in previous kidnappings of foreigners.

"We expect that they will be released in the coming hours," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The kidnappings further underline the chaotic security situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, which the government has failed to check despite repeated pledges.

Four French aid workers who were repairing power and water supplies were also kidnapped at a refugee camp in southern Gaza in July last year, although they were released unharmed shortly afterwards.

A cameraman for CNN was also abducted in Gaza in September last year but he was also freed a day later.

Last July's kidnappings prompted Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei to submit his resignation. It was later retracted after the then Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat refused to accept it.

- AFP