Unknown Palestinian group claims kidnap of British hostages, now freed

The group, calling itself the Mujahadeen Bayt AlMaqdes Brigades distributed a video showing a masked man reading a statement, with British humanitarian aid worker Kate Burton, 24, clearly visible behind him.

In the statement issued to the press here, the group said it held Britain and Europe responsible for "the Palestinian tragedy".

Burton and her parents were released Friday after a two-day ordeal, Palestinian MP Kamal al-Sharafi, also a colleague of the young woman, said earlier.

"They have been freed" and are on their way to be handed over at the El-Dira hotel in Gaza City, the deputy for Gaza, who also heads the Al-Mezan rights group for which works, told AFP.

He said the freed Britons were travelling in a British consulate vehicle towards Erez, the main passage point between the Gaza Strip and Israel, on their way to Tel Aviv.

From their they would be flown back to England, he added.

However, it was unclear if they were in the hands of the Palestinian Authority and there was no immediate confirmation of the release from Britain. Journalists were gathered at the hotel awaiting news from Palestinian officials.

The group which claimed to have kidnapped the three called for Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank and an end to the de-facto "no-go zone" established by Israel north of the Gaza Strip to prevent rocket fire on Israeli territory.

The group also demanded an end to the Israeli polidy of targetted killings, the release of Palestinian prisoners and a guarantee of free elections in East Jerusalem next month.

These calls were accompanied by a warning to Europeans and released with the video cassette showing a masked man and Burton.

Source

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.