BBC, Britain probe reports that kidnapped Gaza correspondent 'executed'

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

BBC, Britain probe reports that kidnapped Gaza correspondent 'executed' 23 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - The BBC and Britain's Foreign Office told AFP they were urgently investigating reports Sunday that kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston had been executed.

The journalist was snatched at gunpoint last month, triggering protests and campaigns for his freedom.

"We've heard of those reports but we don't have any independent verification of them at the moment," a BBC spokeswoman said.

"Obviously, we are deeply concerned about what we're hearing. We are obviously making urgent inquiries about this because it's of great concern to us to hear those sort of rumours.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070415/wl_mideast_afp/mideastgazabritain_070415152401

[kevinmc]

1. I hope they aren't true ..... n/t

[Igel]

2. The report may not be true.

But somehow the reporter didn't report on what the report was, merely the responses to the report.

The rumor is that AQ-Palestine claimed to have killed Johnston.

[ohio2007]

3. Pay the ransome?

article excerpt;

-snip-
More than a dozen foreign journalists and aid workers have been abducted by gunmen in Gaza in the past 18 months, often in a bid by Palestinian militants to get money or jobs. Most have been released unharmed within hours or days. The one exception was the abduction of two Fox News employees in August. They were held for two weeks before they were freed, unharmed.

-snip

http://fe13.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_kidnapped_journalist


hey,
Maybe they thought he was "a spy" ?

-Snip-
JournalismJohnston joined the BBC in 1991 and has spent eight years as a correspondent for the BBC, including in Tashkent, Uzbekistan as well as Kabul, Afghanistan.<1> He was in Kabul when Afghanistan was still under the control of the Taliban.<4> He was supposed to be the BBC's full-time correspondent in Gaza until April 1, 2007, and was the only foreign reporter with a major Western media organisation to still be based in the city at the time of his kidnap.<1><6><7>

Johnston has covered many major stories in Gaza for the BBC, including Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in 2005, Hamas winning the 2006 legislative elections, the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict and the Palestinian factional violence of late 2006 to 2007.<4>

-snip-
When not working as a correspondent, Johnston produces reports, one of which, on life after the Taliban, won a Sony Radio Academy Award bronze.<10> Johnston has also worked as programme editor of The World Today and a general reporter in the BBC World Service newsroom.<11>

-snip-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Johnston_(journalist)

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. There's been no ransom demand - or any news of him

which you might think points to him already having been killed. But if that were so, why hasn't the body been found? If you're going to claim you've killed someone, you could leave the body to be found easily (in Gaza, we're hardly talking about forensic details that could enable the police to catch a killer).

[maddezmom]

5. BBC reporter's family makes appeal

LONDON - The family of a British journalist kidnapped in the Gaza Strip pleaded Monday for his captors to "end this ordeal" following unconfirmed reports he had been killed.

The British Broadcasting Corp. said it could not confirm the claim by a previously unknown Palestinian group that said it had killed Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent.

Johnston, 44, was abducted by gunmen after leaving his office in the coastal Palestinian territory on March 12. On Sunday, a previously unknown group, "The Brigades of Tawheed and Jihad," said it had killed Johnston to support demands for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Palestinian officials said they could not confirm the claim. Britain's Foreign Office said it was "urgently" investigating the reports.

In a statement, Johnston's parents said they were going through "a desperately worrying time."

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_kidnapped_journalist

[truthisfreedom]

6. Sad. One good thing is the unified voice decrying his abduction.

But who knows how much this will impact things in the future.