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Palestinian security forces stand guard in front of the main gate of the American School in Beit Lahia, north of Gaza City, Wednesday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press December 21, 2005 |
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Palestinian gunmen briefly abducted a Dutch school principal and his Australian deputy Wednesday as they drove to work at an elite private American school north of Gaza City.
The armed men stopped the educators' blue Honda Civic 2 kilometers (one mile) from the school, forced them out of their car, bundled them into another vehicle and drove off, witnesses said.
A claim of responsibility, faxed to The Associated Press, called for the release of Ahmed Saadat, a leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is held under foreign supervision in a Palestinian prison in the Judean town of Jericho. Saadat is serving time for masterminding the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in 2001.
The abductors released the school's Dutch principal, Hendrik Taatgen, and his Australian deputy, Brian Ambrosio, after Palestinian police located them. The educators were dropped off at a coordinated point near Gaza City, where Palestinian lawmaker Kamel Sharafi, who served as mediator, picked them up and drove them to the office of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The release came shortly after the fax from the Wadia Hadad Brigades arrived. Wadia Hadad, the chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was killed by Israel in the 1970s.
Terrorist groups have kidnapped foreigners in increasingly chaotic Gaza recently, usually as bargaining chips to get relatives released from Palestinian prisons, secure jobs from the Palestinian Authority or settle personal scores. The kidnappings have all been brief, and the hostages have all been released unharmed.
Students of the American International School in Gaza and their parents whistled, clapped and cheered as Taatgen and Ambrosio stepped out of a car to freedom.
Taatgen said his abductors were disappointed to learn their hostages were Dutch and Australian. "I think they were aiming for Americans, so they were disappointed."
Ambrosio said they were treated well.
"I think that today is a bad memory for us," he said. "We need somehow to get away from this bad memory, so we can contribute again to build the future of Gaza at this difficult time."
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