BBC man will be held 'for 1,000 years or be slaughtered'

BBC man will be held 'for 1,000 years or be slaughtered'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

GAZA CITY: The Palestinian extremists claiming to hold kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston on Tuesday threatened to kill their hostage "like a lamb" unless Britain and Jordan release Muslim prisoners. In a statement emailed to AFP, the Army of Islam demanded the release of Iraqi woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, who has been sentenced to death in Jordan over triple hotel attacks in Amman that killed 60 people.

It also demanded the release of Islamist Abu Mohammad al-Maqdissi - held in Jordan since July 2005 - and the Palestinian-born radical cleric Abu Qatada once fingered as the Al-Qaeda spiritual guide in Europe and held in Britain.

"Our demands are known to all, release the three hostages, Sajida, the Palestinian Abu Qatada and Abu Mohammad al-Maqdissi," the group said, adding: "There will be no compromise, he will either stay in captivity for 1,000 years or be slaughtered like a lamb."

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http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=83350

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Abducted British Broadcasting Corp. journalist Alan Johnston will be released within the ``coming hours,'' the Hamas movement said in an e-mailed statement today.

Johnston, 45, was taken hostage in the Gaza Strip on March 12 by a group calling itself the Army of Islam.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aaU39zkJsyDI&refer=uk

What is going on here?

Is Hamas choosing not to get him freed or are they just unable to do so?

What's Hamas going to do if the man has an explosive belt and the captors won't release him.