My captors have treated me very well: BBC hostage

GAZA CITY: A Palestinian extremist group on Friday released a first video of BBC journalist Alan Johnston since he was kidnapped 80 days ago in Gaza City, in which he said he is in good health and being well treated.

"First of all, my captors have treated me very well. They've fed me well, there has been no violence towards me at all and I'm in good health," said a slightly pale Johnston, wearing a red jumper and sitting against a black backdrop.

There was no indication as to when the video was made, but Johnston said that he was "here in Gaza." 

In a relatively sophisticated Internet video released by the Army of Islam, the extremist group repeated demands for the West to release Islamic militants and Palestinian-born cleric Abu Qatada, held in Britain, in particular.

The prize-winning British journalist, who marked his 45th birthday in captivity, spoke about Palestinian suffering as well as Afghanistan and Iraq following the Anglo-US invasions, but a message to his family was cut.

The group first declared it was holding Johnston -- now in captivity for 12 weeks -- in an audio clip on May 9, when it called on Britain to release all Muslim prisoners, including Abu Qatada, or see more kidnappings.

"In three years here in the Palestinian territories, I witnessed the huge suffering of the Palestinain people and my message is that this suffering is continuing and it is unacceptable," said Johnston, who comes from Scotland.

He was the only Western journalist based permanently in the Gaza Strip when he was snatched at gunpoint while driving on March 12, and is by far the longest-held Westerner in the increasingly dangerous and impoverished territory.

A spokesman for the BBC in London said the broadcaster had not yet seen the video but was urgently trying to get hold of it. "We are looking into it at the moment but we do not have a copy yet," he said. 

Beginning a sentence "to my family," Johnston's slow but clear words were then cut and he disappeared from the screen only to be replaced by a message written in English saying: "BBC refused to take this message to his family."

"My captors say this in order for me to go free, they want..." said Johnston, his voice then replaced by one in Arabic, accompanied by messages on the screen in English, calling for the release of prisoners in Britain.

"We want Britain to free our prisoners and specially Sheikh Abu Qatada al-Felestiny," said the first message in English.

Abu Qatada, once described by a Spanish judge as Al-Qaeda's "spiritual head" in Europe, was arrested in Britain in August 2005 as part of a crackdown on Islamist extremism after 56 people were killed in London suicide bombings.    The Palestinian-born cleric faces pending extradition to Jordan, and British authorities say he is a threat to national security.

"People are killed on a daily basis. Economic suffering is terrible, especially here in Gaza where there... (is) absolute despair after 40 years of Israeli occupation, which is being supported by the West," Johnston added in the video.

The journalist, whose plight has sparked solidarity rallies and messages of support from all over the world, also spoke about the violence in Iraq, following the US-British invasion in 2003, and Afghanistan.

"In all this, we can see the British government endlessly working to occupy the Muslim lands against the will of people in those places," he said.

"In history, the British worked to bring about the State of Israel, which is the cause of all the suffering of the Palestinian people.

"We British are completely to blame, along with the Americans, for the situation in Iraq, and the British are the main force in Afghanistan, causing all the trouble to ordinary simple Afghans, who simply want to live."

An online petition calling for Johnston's release has been signed by more than 100,000 people.

On his birthday on May 17, relatives, colleagues and well-wishers worldwide held vigils and sent greetings to the correspondent.