Palestinian kidnappers trade hostages for money

NABLUS, West Bank - Palestinian kidnappers won promises of payoffs for themselves and for comrades in Israeli prisons Saturday in exchange for freeing three foreign church workers including an American, Palestinian officials said.

The promises by the Palestinian Authority came in a new test of strength between militant groups and the security forces, which recently were put under the authority of Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

Five gunmen seized the three church volunteers - an American, a Briton and an Irishmen - Friday night near their apartments and took them to the Balata refugee camp.

About the same time, about a dozen armed men broke into the governor's building in the northern West Bank town of Jenin and set it on fire.

Both groups demanded financial support from the Palestinian Authority, which gives unofficial payments to militants sought by Israel, according to security officials and the militants themselves.

The Palestinian Authority officially denies that it pays the militants, but some officials, including lawmakers, say support is given to militants who pledge not to attack targets inside Israel.

Officials said the kidnappers, who belonged to a splinter group of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, were told that all their demands will be met and that the abduction was undermining the Palestinian cause in the eyes of the world.

The demands were for an unspecified amount of support for themselves and for imprisoned comrades, the officials said. They said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat approved the promise.

The militants drove the hostages to a park early Saturday and called the security forces to pick them up, the officials said.

The foreigners were first taken to the Nablus office of the Palestinian intelligence, then spent the rest of the night as guests of Ghassan Shaka'a, a close Arafat aide.

The released hostages refused to speak to reporters, and their identities were not released.

The chief of Palestinian intelligence services in Nablus, Talal Duikat, said Saturday that his forces were searching for four suspects wanted in the kidnappings. The suspects did not belong to any specific group, Duikat said.

Palestinian security forces were "shocked" by the kidnappings, and Arafat instructed them by phone to do everything to get the captives released quickly, Duikat said.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright