Two journalists briefly kidnapped in Gaza
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-13 09:22

Palestinian gunmen briefly kidnapped an American and a British journalist on Wednesday as the pair drove through the central Gaza town of Khan Younis.

Dion Nissenbaum, an American reporter for the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, and British photographer Adam Pletts, who was working on contract for Knight Ridder, were freed Wednesday night after several hours in captivity, Nissenbaum said.

"They have been released by their captors to the Palestinian Authority and are being transported back to Gaza City," Knight Ridder said in a statement. "They are safe and unharmed."

Dion Nissenbaum, right, an American reporter for the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, and British photographer Adam Pletts, left, working on contract for Knight Ridder, speak with a journalist following their release at the Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza city, Wednesday Oct. 12, 2005. [AP]

The men were abducted by a renegade group of militants who had formerly belonged to the ruling Fatah group, said Palestinian police chief Brig. Gen. Ala Husni.

The kidnappers demanded that they be given jobs as officers in the Palestinian security forces, Husni said. Palestinian officials refused to negotiate and the journalists were eventually freed after one of the kidnappers turned himself in for questioning, he said.

Militant groups have kidnapped foreigners in increasingly chaotic Gaza recently, usually as bargaining chips to get relatives released from Palestinian prisons or to secure jobs from the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian security officials said the journalists were traveling down Gaza's coastal road with a Palestinian translator when two cars filled with gunmen drove up and stopped them. The armed men let the translator go, but abducted the reporters and drove south in the direction of the Gaza town of Rafah, police said.

Before the men were released, Knight Ridder said it was working to get them freed. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli also said the United States was working with senior officials from the Palestinian Authority to bring about their release.