UPDATE: PALIS RELEASE KIDNAPPED AMERICAN

EARLIER TODAY, THE TERRORISTS MADE THEIR DEMANDS:

Palestinian terror group: Prisoners for kidnapped US youth (YNet)
A Palestinian group claiming it had kidnapped an American youth in Nablus has demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange for his release.

I THOUGHT THIS WOULD END BADLY. I SPECULATED THAT THIS MIGHT BE A SCAM BY A WILLING PARTICIPANT HOPING TO HELP FREE TERRORISTS. I THOUGHT THAT, AS IN THE PAST, THE TERRORISTS MAY TURN ON HIM ANYWAY AND MURDER HIM, ONLY TO HAVE HIS GRIEVING FAMILY CONDEMN.... ISRAEL. IT LOOKS AS IF I WAS WRONG ON THE SECOND POINT; THE FIRST IS STILL AN OPEN QUESTION.

Kidnapped American tells Ynet: Not disappointed in Palestinian people (YNet)
Michael Leighton Phillips, the American youth kidnapped in Nalbus, spoke with Ynet briefly after his release and said he had been held by his captors for 48 hours. "I don't know who my captors were or what they wanted but I do know who put me in the taxi where the kidnapping took place," says Phillips. Phillips says that he is not disappointed in the Palestinian people, even though "you can't say that my captors treated me in a gracious and polite manner," he said. (Ali Waked)

HE EVEN GOT AN APOLOGY FROM ABBAS:

Abbas apologizes for kidnapping (YNet)
A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Jamal Tirawi told Ynet that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas apologized to the American student Michael Leighton Phillips who was abducted by gunmen and later freed. Tirawi blamed elements in Gaza, especially within the Popular Resistance Committees, and said that "we will not allow Palestine to turn into Iraq or Afghanistan." (Ali Waked)