DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.K./UMMAH: WE WILL KILL JOHNSTON IF THE NEGOTIATIONS BECOME MORE DIFFICULT

Islamic group threatens to kill Johnston if negotiations 'become more difficult'
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

The Gaza group claiming responsibility for the kidnap of the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston said yesterday it would only free him if its demands were met. They threatened to kill him "if things become more difficult".

The denial of any deal to free Mr Johnston came after a day of encouraging signs that he was well on the way to being released in the wake of renewed pressure by the Hamas leadership now in internal control in Gaza after the five days of fighting last week.

Hamas responded to the new indication of a stall in the intensive negotiations last night by saying it was making "intense efforts" to secure the reporter's release and would not "accept any delay."

In the first televised appearance since Mr Johnston was kidnapped three months ago, a masked man identified by the al-Jazeera television station as a spokesman for the Army of Islam recalled the group's demands for the release of Abu Qatada, held in a British prison and suspected of links with al-Qa'ida.

Earlier Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader who has rejected his dismissal by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said after meeting the released victim of a year-long kidnap by a Gaza clan: "I hope there will be similar news about the abducted journalist Alan Johnston. We are acting effectively and in a serious manner. I hope this file will be closed and that Alan can go back to his family safe and sound."

But the recorded declaration shown by al-Jazeera of a spokesman identified by as Abu Khatab said: "Freeing this detainee has not been part of any deal with any faction or organisation. What appears on television screens and through the media here and there are untrue."

Israeli Ynet digital news service reported what Ynet said was a declaration by the kidnappers on a fundamentalist website that they had been " threatened" by Hamas, whose military wing had said on Friday it had begun "taking steps" to secure Mr Johnston's release.

The Army of Islam spokesman said Mr Johnston would not be freed until the release of Abu Qatada "or any other prisoners we agree upon." Qatada, a Palestinian-born Islamic cleric is being held in detention by the British Government as a threat to national security. The televised statement added: "There are developments. We will let you know when there are new developments."

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1) Islamic group threatens to kill Johnston if negotiations 'become more difficult'