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Naim Toubasi, head of the Palestinian Journalists syndicate, holds a photograph of kidnapped Fox News journalists seized on Aug. 14 in Gaza during a press conference calling for their release in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Saturday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press August 27, 2006 |
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Two Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza two weeks ago are expected to be freed later Sunday, a senior Palestinian official said, as the kidnappers released new footage of the hostages.
The government has received assurances that the hostages, cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand and correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of the U.S., are unharmed, said Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal.
"We hope their release will be within hours," Abu Hilal told The Associated Press.
The kidnappers, meanwhile, released new video of Wiig and Centanni. In a written statement attached to the video, the kidnappers claimed the two men had converted to Islam.
In one segment of the footage, Wiig is seen sitting cross-legged on the floor, dressed in a beige robe and reading from crumpled notes. "It is Apache helicopters firing hellfire missiles made in America that kill the residents in Gaza," he said in a halting voice, his face expressionless.
In another segment, Centanni said he has converted to Islam and raised his index finger in an oath of allegiance to the religion.
The journalists were seized in Gaza City on Aug. 14. Their captors, a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades, demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the U.S. by midnight Saturday in exchange for freeing the journalists. The kidnappers did not say what it would do to the men if the deadline passed with their demands unanswered.
It was not clear whether the kidnappers were local militants, either with ties to Hamas or the rival Fatah movement, or sneaked into Gaza from outside. However, some Palestinian security officials said Sunday there were growing suspicions that the kidnappers were locals.
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 holding of the Fox journalists was the longest so far.
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, traveled to Gaza soon after the kidnapping to appeal for the men's safe release. Centanni's brother, Ken, has made a similar plea.
On Friday, civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson also called for the two men to be freed.
"They are in a crisis they did not create. They should not be kept as trophies and we appeal for their release," Jackson told New Zealand television network TV3.
Jackson was to lead an ecumenical delegation to the Middle East this weekend to meet with political and religious leaders about the kidnapping and other developments in the region, including the capture of three Israeli soldiers by Islamic militants.
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