Hamas accused the Palestinian leadership of sabotaging the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston who has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Islamic militants for 104 days.
GAZA CITY: Hamas accused the Palestinian leadership on Sunday of sabotaging the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston who has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Islamic militants for 104 days.
"Efforts are being made to torpedo the great achievements of Hamas in restoring calm to the streets of Gaza and this has repercussions for efforts to free the journalist Johnston," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
"Some people are trying to block this issue despite the fact that we were on the point of resolving it," he said.
Hamas raised hopes after its rout of the rival Fatah-linked Palestinian security forces in Gaza on June 15 that Johnston, who spent his 45th birthday in captivity, might be released quickly.
Abu Zuhri accused unidentified senior officials from the Palestinian Authority headed by president Mahmud Abbas of Fatah of working for the continuation of Johnston's captivity from their base in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"There have been contacts though special channels from Ramallah with the kidnappers that we have been able to intercept to prevent the release," he said.
There has been no word on the journalist's condition since the radical fringe group claiming his abduction released an undated video on June 1, showing a pale Johnston saying he had been well treated and well fed.
The Army of Islam is demanding the release of a Palestinian-born cleric, once labelled Al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Europe, Abu Qatada, who is being held in Britain.
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