US journo escapes abduction

2004-05-20 10:12

Tel Aviv - Palestinian militants tried to abduct a foreign journalist as he was reporting outside a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, a statement by the Foreign Press Association in Israel said Thursday.

The journalist, who wished to remain anonymous, was approached by a group of men outside Rafah's al-Najjar hospital where Palestinians were being treated after Israel's attack on Palestinian demonstrators on Wednesday afternoon.

The men first engaged him in conversation, but then grabbed him and tried to bundle him into a car. Passers-by who heard the journalist's shouts managed to foil the kidnapping.

"The FPA deplores this dangerous new development," the statement said. It called on all parties to respect the integrity of journalists covering the conflict.

The attempted kidnap came after repeated warnings by the Israeli army that it had intelligence information indicating that Palestinian militants planned to abduct foreign journalists.

Israel Radio reported that the journalist worked for an American news outlet. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA