Fox News Crew Freed After Gaza Ordeal
Aug 27, 11:44 AM (ET)
By IBRAHIM BARZAK
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Militants freed two Fox News journalists on Sunday, ending a nearly two week hostage drama. One of the former captives said they were sometimes held face down in a dark garage, tied up in painful positions and forced at gunpoint to make videos and say they had converted to Islam.
Correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of Washington, D.C., and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, were dropped off at Gaza City's Beach Hotel by Palestinian security officials. A tearful Centanni briefly embraced a Palestinian journalist in the lobby, then rushed upstairs with Wiig behind him.
The pair, who appeared to be in good health, then met with Palestinian officials, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The three men sat in a circle of chairs at the hotel, before the journalists held a news conference, then left for Israel.
The journalists said they hoped their ordeal would not prevent others from covering the Palestinians.
(AP) This undated image from video, released by Fox News, shows Fox correspondent Steve Centanni, a U.S....
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"I want to thank everybody. I am happy to be here. I hope that this never scares a single journalist away from coming to Gaza to cover the story because the Palestinian people are very beautiful and kind-hearted," Centanni told reporters. "The world needs to know more about them. Don't be discouraged."
Wiig also said he was worried that the kidnapping would scare off reporters.
"My biggest concern really is that as a result of what happened to us foreign journalists will be discouraged from coming to tell the story and that would be a great tragedy for the people of Palestine," Wiig said. "You guys need us on the streets, and you need people to be aware of the story."
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, thanked Palestinian officials and Fox News for their efforts in getting the men released. The men refused to take questions, then traveled to the northern Erez border crossing and entered Israel.
In a phone call with Fox News, Centanni said that during his capture, he was held at times face down in a dark garage, tied up in painful positions, and that he and Wiig were forced at gunpoint to make statements, including that they had converted to Islam.
(AP) This undated image from video, released by Fox News, shows Fox correspondent Steve Centanni, a U.S....
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"I'm a little emotional because this is overwhelming, but I'm fine," Centanni said. "I'm so happy to be freed."
The journalists were seized in Gaza City on Aug. 14 by a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades. However, senior Palestinian security officials said Sunday the name was a front for local militants, and that Palestinian authorities had known the identity of the kidnappers from the start.
Haniyeh confirmed the kidnappers were from Gaza, squashing speculation that al-Qaida had directed the abduction. "The kidnappers have no link to al-Qaida or any other organization or faction," Haniyeh said. "Al-Qaida as an organization does not exist in the Gaza Strip."
In the past two years, Palestinian militants have seized more than two dozen foreigners, usually to settle personal scores, but released them unharmed within hours. The Fox journalists had been held longest.
Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes expressed gratitude that the journalists had been freed.
"We'd like to thank governments and individuals throughout the world who aided in securing their release," he said in a statement. "The entire international community is beginning to realize that journalists should never be hostages or pawns in world events."
It remained unclear whether the kidnappers had ties to Hamas or the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. A third group, the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed Sunday it had helped mediate the release of the journalists.
Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul-general in Jerusalem, said he had met with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Palestinian president and his security forces had been helpful in the efforts to free the men.
"I expressed my thanks to him on behalf of the American government and the American people," he said.
Interior Minister Said Siyam said he did not expect other foreign journalists reporting in Gaza to face similar abductions. "In principle, there is a promise that this will not be repeated," he said, refusing to elaborate.
In chaotic Gaza, gunmen often change their affiliation or form splinter groups. Their agendas are often driven by personal issues, including jobs and power for their clans, rather than by ideology.
Haniyeh was evasive Sunday when asked whether he would try to arrest the kidnappers. Before Hamas ousted Fatah in March, it frequently had criticized the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority for cutting deals with kidnappers and letting them go without punishment.
It was not clear whether a deal had been struck with the kidnappers of the Fox journalists. The kidnappers initially demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the U.S. by midnight Saturday (5 p.m. EDT) in exchange for the journalists.
The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority had insisted it had no clue about the identity of the kidnappers.
However, in recent days, Hamas government officials signaled that the release of the journalists was imminent and that they had won assurances from the kidnappers that the hostages were being treated well.
On Sunday, before the journalists' release, a new video was released, showing Wiig and Centanni dressed in beige Arab-style robes. Wiig delivered an anti-Western speech, his face expressionless and his tone halting. The kidnappers claimed both men had converted to Islam.
Several hours later, the two men were dropped off at the Beach Hotel, wearing Western-style clothing. Wiig walked into the lobby behind Centanni, briefly turned when someone pulled him by the arm and shouted "get off" before heading upstairs.
"We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," Centanni later told Fox. "Don't get me wrong here. I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on."
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