The BBC on Thursday urged "everyone with influence" in the Palestinian territories to help find one of its reporters, who was kidnapped at gunpoint in the Gaza Strip earlier this week.
The London-based broadcaster said in a statement that it remained concerned for the welfare of Alan Johnston, who has not been seen since he left the BBC bureau in Gaza on Monday afternoon. Palestinian security sources have said the 44-year-old was forced from his car by gunmen while driving home in the latest in a spate of abductions of foreigners in the lawless territory.
The BBC said it was grateful for the help of the authorities in Gaza in trying to find Johnston, including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.
Abbas and the Islamist Hamas movement have both condemned the kidnapping and have ordered security services to secure his release as quickly as possible. Johnston's family in Scotland as well as his friends and colleagues were being kept updated and had been moved by the show of support from Gaza and around the world, the BBC said.
"It is clear from the messages we have had that these efforts are valued enormously by everyone here in Gaza," it added. "We would therefore urge everyone with influence here to continue their efforts so that Alan may be reunited with his family and colleagues at the earliest opportunity." Abductions of foreigners have become increasingly common in the impoverished Gaza Strip, with about 20 such cases in the past year.
Kidnappers normally use the hostages as bargaining chips to gain concessions from the Palestinian Authority, and they have all been released unharmed. Johnston, who is single and has previously worked in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, was coming to the end of a three-year posting in Gaza.
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