PALIS KIDNAP BBC REPORTER IN GAZA

HOW LONG BEFORE THE BBC SOMEHOW BLAMES THIS ON ISRAEL? WHEN/IF THE REPORTER IS RELEASED, I'M SURE HE WILL THANK HIS KIDNAPPERS FOR TREATING HIM SO WELL AND FAIL TO MENTION HIS FORCED CONVERSION TO ISLAM.

Palestinians kidnap BBC reporter in Gaza (JPost)
Masked Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a BBC reporter from his car in Gaza City on Monday, Palestinian security officials said. The man threw a business card on the street that identified him as Alan Johnston of the BBC, officials said.

The BBC bureau chief in Jerusalem, Simon Wilson, said his news network had lost contact with Johnston, but Wilson could not immediately confirm a kidnapping.

Security sources said four gunmen carried out the kidnapping, and that a car was found abandoned near Johnston's Gaza City apartment. Police found the lease of the rental car, which stated the vehicle was rented to the BBC.

The news network said Johnston was from Scotland and has been reporting from Gaza for the past three years.

In Gaza City, a spokesman for Hamas condemned Johnston's abduction. "We call on these criminal groups to stop this destruction of our reputation and to let this journalist free," he told The Associated Press.

More than a dozen foreign journalists and aid workers have been abducted in Gaza, an area plagued by crime, political violence and lawlessness. Most of the kidnappings have been carried out by gunmen seeking favors from the government or trying to settle scores with rivals.

In most cases, victims have been released unharmed within hours. An exception was the abduction of two Fox News employees last summer who were held for two weeks, prompting many foreign journalists to shy away from entering Gaza.

The last foreigner taken hostage was Jaime Razuri, 50, a Peruvian photographer with the French news agency, who was abducted at gunpoint on January 1 and released a week later.

In October, AP photographer Emilio Morenatti was abducted in Gaza City and freed unharmed after 15 hours.