Hamas: Fatah foiling Johnston release

Kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston
Photo: AP

This stinks to high heaven. I hate it when people play politics with innocent people, even when its only one.

Fatah leaders have been urging the captors of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston to hold on to him to avoid a situation where Hamas would take credit for his release, Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Saturday.

"Hamas is making a big effort to release the British journalist," Abu Zuhri told the Quds Press news agency. "But some Fatah leaders in Ramallah have been phoning the captors to ask them not to release him." He said Hamas had evidence that the Fatah leaders were trying to hinder Johnston's release. "They don't want Hamas to take credit for his release," he added.

Although the Hamas spokesman did not name the Fatah leaders, sources close to Hamas claimed that top Fatah operative Muhammad Dahlan, who is currently living in Ramallah, was one of them.

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