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Palestinian police rescue captives from Gaza kidnappers

Posted on: Friday, 29 July 2005, 11:47 CDT

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian police rescued an Australian woman and Palestinian man on Friday who were abducted by the family of a kidnapped security officer in Gaza to try to secure the release of their son.

A Palestinian security source said officers had negotiated with the family before securing the release of Palestinian Steve Sabella, a freelance photographer from Jerusalem, and the Australian, who was not immediately identified.

Family members of Jihad Abed, a Palestinian military intelligence officer who was abducted on Thursday by a militant group, seized the captives at gunpoint outside a Gaza beachfront hotel, police said.

The incident was the latest example of lawlessness in the Palestinian territories that President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to combat but has been powerless to stop.

"The family wants to seek the release of Jihad Abed after we were disappointed by the failure of the Palestinian Authority to secure his release," according to a man who said he was one of his relatives. He declined to give his name.

Witnesses said on Thursday that gunmen from the Jenin Martyrs Brigades snatched Abed from his car in Gaza and took him to an undisclosed location in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef had ordered all security officers to secure the pair's release shortly after the abduction and sent police to negotiate with the kidnappers.

"Deterrent measures will be taken against all those involved in the kidnapping of foreigners, which harms the image of the Palestinian national cause and national traditions," he said in a statement.

The Jenin Martyrs Brigades, among a plethora of armed factions in Gaza, declined comment after Thursday's abduction, and the motive for kidnapping Abed was not immediately known.

The group has in the past accused Palestinian military intelligence officials of trying to round up its gunmen, who are ex-activists of Abbas's Fatah movement.

Abed previously served as office director for former military intelligence chief Musa Arafat, who was retired by Abbas several months ago as part of moves to reform disorganized and corruption-plagued security services.

Militants have occasionally targeted foreigners for abduction in recent months but have always released them unharmed, usually within hours.

Source: REUTERS

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