Posted on 08/15/2006 11:45:56 AM PDT by Blogger
Palestinian security forces hunted for two abducted Fox News journalists Tuesday, and the Palestinian president and prime minister intervened in an attempt to gain their release.
President Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas-led government, scheduled meetings with the news organization's Jerusalem bureau chief, Eli Fastman, and its chief correspondent in Israel, Jennifer Griffin.
The prime minister assured the Fox News representatives that Palestinian security forces would use all their power to "put an end to it soon," said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said, without elaborating.
Investigators said the president's office was closely following the probe into the abduction.
American reporter Steve Centanni, 60, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were seized by masked gunmen Monday near the headquarters of the Palestinian security services.
No one has claimed responsibility for kidnapping, and police said no demands have been made. Major militant groups denied any connection to the abduction.
U.S. officials said they were in touch with Abbas' office, Palestinian security officials and the Israelis to see if they can help secure the journalists' release.
"Certainly we are concerned about their safety, that is why we are working to ensure their freedom," said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, a spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem.
She said it was still unclear who was holding the journalists.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark dispatched diplomats to Gaza to assist in any contacts for their release. She said she was "very concerned" about the kidnapping.
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, said Fox representatives told her negotiations for their release were already under way. But officials in Gaza said no contact had been established with the kidnappers.
Nabil Abu Rdeinah, an Abbas aide, said the president ordered all security forces to work on tracking the two journalists. "This is an unacceptable act. We condemn this operation and hope we would succeed to find a peaceful solution very soon," he said.
An investigator in the case, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize the investigation, said suspicions were focusing on a renegade group from an established Palestinian militant organization, but he declined to give further details. The car in which the journalists were taken has been identified, he said.
Centanni was behind the wheel of the Fox vehicle, marked in large letters "TV," when the gunmen pulled up and stopped them, a Fox employee said. A Palestinian who was with them was forced onto the floor at gunpoint, and the two journalists were taken away.
An official following the investigation said the getaway car was spotted driving south along the coastal road.
Police and security forces were deployed at major intersections and roads in Gaza immediately after the kidnapping.
Several foreigners have been kidnapped in Gaza by small groups seeking the release of relatives from jail, jobs or other personal favors. All have been freed within a few days without harm.
Send OJ.
LOL! They know exactly where they are. Hell, they're probably the ones that kidnapped them. I'll bet they're looking real hard!
Prayers.
The headline should read: "Foxes Look For Stolen Chickens! Vow to check every coop."
ROTFLMAO!!!
Why are they looking for them? So they can use them to get 5000 prisoners to exchange them for?
Another example of how the Palestinian "Authority" is no authority at all. They can't control their own lunatics.
"Hey mohammed, found anything yet?"
"We ain't found S--t!
Happened yesterday.
His last name means “one hundred years,” which let’s hope is a good omen.
You got to remember that muslims are not only brutal and primitive, but stupid and juvenile too.
It is perfectly reasonable for them to expect "attaboys" for both kidnapping and "rescuing" the same victims.
I'm sure the PA will get right on looking for Centanni, right after they finish work on Gaza's Holocaust memorial.
I think that secretly FOX news ought to tell the Palestinians that they will bring their entire News organizations to bare on turning the media war against the Palestinians.
Not only make them look bad, but make them out to be the scourage of the earth. If Pallywood or Hezbullywood can change the tide, their threat out to be that the Palestinians have seen nothing yet.
For that matter, they ought to do it anyway....its about time these liars learn that they cannot bite the hand that feeds them.
Anyone else notice how silent the DBM has been on Centanni's kidnapping? If it had been someone from CNN, MSDNC or one of broadcast networks or the NYT who was kidnapped, we'd be getting 24/7 updates, as well as the obligatory tearful interviews with his family and friends.
A lot of people here were disgusted by the DUmmies and the KOmmies gleefully celebrating this kidnapping and hoping that Centanni's beheading would soon be out on video. I'll bet that if you were in just about any DBM newsroom today, you'd find similar, but more restrained, gloating.
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