Alan Johnston case continues – Asharq Al-Awsat report

http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=5&id=8715

BBC Reporter Alan Johnston Still Alive- Palestinian Security Chief

21/04/2007

By Ali El-Saleh

London, Asharq Al-Awsat- A high-ranking Palestinian security official has asserted that British Broadcasting Corporation, “BBC”, reporter Alan Johnston who was kidnapped in Gaza is still alive contrary to the report that he was killed as stated in a statement issued by an unknown organization in the Palestinian territories called “Al-Tawhid Wa al-Jihad Brigades.”

But according to its spokesman, the Palestinian Interior Ministry does not know where Johnston is held or the party that kidnapped him on 12 March though it ruled out that any harm has befallen him.

Palestinian National Security Director Major General Rashid Abu-Shibak told “Asharq al-Awsat” that “he is alive.” In reply to a question on whether there is contact between the party that kidnapped him which he refused to identify and the security organs, Abu-Shibak, who was head of Preventive Security until few months ago, answered: “There are ways through which we are trying to contact the kidnappers.”

He refused to confirm or deny information that Johnston is held by one of Gaza’s powerful families that is supported by a party in the Palestinian Authority [PA] and that it is demanding $5 million for his release and threatening to kill him or hand him to another party if the ransom was not paid.

On his part, the Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman told Asharq al-Awsat, “So far and as an interior ministry, we have no information confirming where he is. There are rumors and suspicions pointing in several directions. But everyone is denying.” He added: “There is a strong suspicion that he is with a group headed by persons from a certain family in Gaza. But this group is not a resistance faction.” He went onto say: “No party has so far admitted kidnapping Johnston or making any demands. But there could be contact between the party behind the kidnapping and a party in the PA about which we know nothing and no one has told us. Our stand as interior ministry is that the situation is difficult and complicated. We rely on the security organs but they are in a pitiful state and the security situation is way out of control.”

Meanwhile more voices were raised inside the Palestinian territories demanding the release of the 44 year old Johnston, who is described as one of the reporters who support and back the Palestinian cause. He is the only foreign correspondent who refused to live anywhere but in Gaza and has been in the city for three years. He was supposed to end his service there at the end of March, just two weeks after his kidnapping.

From his cell inside Israel’s jails, Marwan al-Barghuthi, secretary of the Fatah movement’s Higher Committee in the West Bank, appealed to Johnston’s kidnappers to release him. He said in a statement published by the popular committee for his [Al-Barghuthi's] release: “I appeal from my cell and on behalf of 10,000 male and female prisoners in the occupation’s jails for the immediate release of reporter Alan Johnston, the Palestinian people’s friend.” He also called for “respecting and protecting the reporters operating in Palestine and all foreign workers and employees in Palestine and for the categorical rejection of the principle of kidnap and attack on persons and possessions as this will cause huge damage to the Palestinian people’s higher interests and the national struggle.”

Asharq Alawsat (Arabic: الشرق الاوسط, The Middle East) is a major pan-Arabic daily newspaper, with a circulation of 200,000, printed simultaneously on four continents in twelve cities. It was founded in London in 1978. It is still based in London, but it is now edited by the Saudi Research and Marketing Ltd. and directed by Saudi prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, half-brother of the king.

I thought it would be interesting to look at a report in an Arabic paper regarding the Alan Johnston case. This story seems quite balanced, and brings the known facts about Johnston’s kidnapping up to date, denying the recent rumours that Johnston has been killed, and reasserting that Palestinian intelligence services believe Johnston is still alive, though they still don’t know his whereabouts. Johnston has been the longest-held Western captive on the West Bank since some weeks ago.

This story gives a slightly different perspective than most mainstream Western media, by quoting Marwan al-Barghuthi, secretary of the Fatah movement’s Higher Committee in the West Bank, in relation to Johnston’s kidnapping. It is interesting to see an appeal from within Palestine supporting Johnston and calling on his kidnappers to release him.

 

Alan Johnston case continues

 

April 20, 2007

 

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston is reportedly still alive.
Photo: AFP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas claims his intelligence officials have information that BBC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped more than a month ago in Gaza, is still alive.

“I believe he is still alive. Our intelligence services have confirmed to me that he is alive,” Abbas told reporters during a visit to Stockholm, saying he had received the information “in the last three days”.

Abbas said he wanted to secure Johnston’s release.

“I want him to be released unharmed and safe without psychological or physical harm,” he stressed.

Johnston, 44, was snatched at gunpoint from his car as he drove home from work in Gaza City on March 12 and has become the longest-held Westerner in the increasingly lawless territory.

Last Sunday, an Islamist group claimed it had killed Johnston, one of the few Western reporters to have both lived and worked in the territory.

The Palestinian government has said that so far there was no proof of the death claim by the little-known group, Kataeb al-Jihad al-Tawheed (The Brigades of Holy War and Unity).

Abbas said Palestinian officials knew of the group but had had no contact with them.

“We know those people and we want Johnston safe … The less we say about it, (the better) it will be for our benefit and for Alan Johnston’s benefit,” he said.

“This does not mean that we have any contact with the abductors. What I am saying is based on our intelligence-gathering services,” he said.

No Westerner has so far been killed after being abducted in Gaza, where hostages are generally used to lever concessions from the authorities and are usually released unharmed within days of their kidnapping.

Johnston’s ordeal has sparked international protests, with solidarity demonstrations held in Brussels, Lebanon and throughout Britain.

Thousands of people around the world have signed an online petition calling for his release, with hundreds also posting messages of support on the BBC News website.

Johnston has been with the BBC for 16 years and has also reported from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

Abbas was in Stockholm as part of a European tour aimed at convincing EU countries to lift a year-long suspension of direct aid to the Hamas-led government.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s report on April 20 about Alan Johnston still being alive quotes information at two removes – Palestinian president Ahmoud Abbas relying on bis intelligence services for information.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/kidnapped-bbc-journalist-alive/2007/04/20/1176697035463.html

The SMH report stresses that kidnapped Westerners in Gaza are rarely killed, as a means for holding out hope that Johnston may still be alive. It also reports on the international protests and solidarity demonstrations held around the world in attempts to support Johnston’s freeing. While there is no real hard news in this story, since Johnston’s whereabouts are still unknown at this date, the story leads with the prominence of the Palestinian president claiming that Johnston is likely still alive.

 

USA Today reports on kidnapped Fox journos

Militant group says it kidnapped Fox journalists

Updated 8/24/2006 8:00 AM ET

Enlarge Ramatan News Agency via AP This video released by a Palestinian militant group shows Fox journalists Steve Centanni, 60, right, and Olaf Wiig. Palestinian government officials, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have called for the release of Centanni and Wiig.

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GAZA CITY (AP) — An unknown militant group demanded the release of Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails within 72 hours in exchange for two kidnapped Fox News journalists, who were shown sitting cross-legged and barefoot on the floor in a video released Wednesday.

The video, which broke 10 days of silence from the kidnappers, marked the first time militants in Gaza have issued demands going beyond the conflict with Israel. The footage also had none of the trappings of locally produced videos, such as flags or masked gunmen, raising the possibility that foreign extremists may have taken root in Gaza.

ON DEADLINE: Watch the video

Palestinian and Israeli officials say al-Qaeda has been trying to infiltrate Gaza in the aftermath of Israel’s withdrawal a year ago. The Egypt-Gaza border is now rife with smuggling tunnels, and Palestinian militant groups have blown up a border wall to allow people in and out of the area.

In the footage, American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of Washington, D.C., and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand appealed for help in getting released.

The images of the men sitting in a dark, drab room were the first sign of the journalists since they were abducted Aug. 14 from their TV van in Gaza City.

“Our captors are treating us well,” Centanni said.

In a statement attached to the video, a group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades railed against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and characterized them as a war against Islam. It made no demands of Israel.

Local militant groups routinely try to limit the conflict to a fight between Palestinians and Israel, fearing they could otherwise cause a backlash against the Palestinian cause. Major militant groups, including the ruling Hamas movement, have all condemned the kidnapping and called for the journalists’ release.

Militants with ties to Hamas have been involved in kidnappings in the past, including the June 25 abduction of an Israeli soldier, aimed at winning the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails.

However, Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the government, criticized the kidnapping of the Fox journalists. “Our battle is against the occupation inside the Palestinian territories, and we are not taking our battle outside the Palestinian land,” he said.

Boaz Ganor, an Israeli counterterrorism expert, said the absence of Palestinian demands in the statement made it “much more likely that this is part of an outside group.” Ganor said that since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, Islamic militants with direct or indirect links to al-Qaeda have sneaked into the territory. “They’re now well-rooted in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Over the past two years, Palestinian militants have seized more than two dozen foreigners, usually to settle personal scores, but released them unharmed within hours. The holding of the Fox journalists is the longest so far.

A Palestinian security official close to the investigation said there were several signs that an outside group was behind the kidnapping. He noted the professional quality of the video and the absence of flags, masked gunmen or logos typically seen in videos made by local groups.

But the official said it was possible that local militants were trying to divert attention. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the press.

Palestinian security officials said they were analyzing the video and even turned to Islamic experts for help in deciphering the poetic verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in the statement.

The kidnappers of Centanni and Wiig demanded that Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails be released within three days in exchange for the hostages. The group did not say what would happen if the deadline passes.

“You have angered us and we are not among those who wilt when angered, but the fountains of Islam erupt within us,” the statement said.

“We are going to exchange the female and male Muslim prisoners in American jails for the prisoners that we have. We are going to give you 72 hours, beginning midnight tonight, to make your decision,” it says. “If you implement and meet our condition, we will fulfill our promise.”

It was not clear whether the group was referring to prisoners being held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay or Iraq, where the U.S. is holding large numbers of Muslim prisoners.

In Washington, the State Department said it would not accede to the demands.

“We don’t make concessions to terrorists, and we continue to call for the release of these journalists without conditions,” State Department press officer Gonzalo Gallegos said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday that her government would also not negotiate with the kidnappers, including paying a ransom for the journalists’ release.

Fox News Senior Vice President John Moody said he was “encouraged that our colleagues appear to be alive and well.”

“We trust that the abductors understand they are responsible for Steve and Olaf’s welfare and safe return. We ask for their immediate release,” he said.

In the video footage, the men, sitting on the floor in sweat suits, appear to be in good health. Centanni said the two men had access to clean water, showers, bathrooms, food and clothing.

“So, just want to let you know I am here and alive and give my love to my family and friends and ask to do anything you can to try to help us get out of here.”

Wiig called for help to get them freed.

“If you could apply any pressure on the local government here in Gaza and the West Bank that would be much appreciated by Steve and myself,” Wiig said.

Centanni’s brother, Ken, said he was relieved to have received a sign of life. “We’re very relieved that the kidnappers have contacted the world and we can see our brother and Olaf,” Ken Centanni said from his San Jose, Calif., home.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

This story was interesting to me because I thought that perhaps USA Today would provide a softer and less informative coverage of this case, but the story above demonstrates a number of strong points. It is quite extensive, includes a video copy of the captor’s demands (though in contrast to the ABC news report this story states the video “had none of the trappings of locally produced videos”). It also quoted several different sources for it s quotes, inclduing a spoeksman for the Government, an Israeli counterterrorism expert and a Palestinian security official, which lent the story quite a degree of balance as well as information. In addition, a US state Dept press officer, and the New Zealand PM were quoted, expressing their views on terrorism, and the story concluded with a quote from one of the journalist’s brothers. I was quite impressed with this coverage as the reporter seems to have done a lot of homework to fill in the background and also get quotes from a variety of source.s

 

Fox journalists Gaza kidnap case

This story ran at ABC news online on August 24, 2006: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1722533.htm Two Fox journalists who were kidnapped in Gaza last week said they were in “fairly good health” and appealed for help to secure their release, a video released on Wednesday showed. A previously unknown militant group, the “Holy Jihad Brigades”, earlier claimed responsibility for the kidnapping nine days ago of the two journalists and demanded the United States release “Muslim prisoners” within 72 hours. Fox News Channel correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were shown sitting on a mat on a floor. No militants could be seen. “We’re in fairly good condition, we’re alive and well, in fairly good health,” Centanni said. “Just want to let you know I’m here and alive and give my love to my family and friends and ask you to do anything you can to try to help us get out of here.” The “Holy Jihad Brigades” did not say what would happen if the United States did not meet their demand to release Muslims in American prisons by the time the deadline expires on Saturday. The video bore many hallmarks of videos of captives issued by militants in Iraq, and the rhetoric of the group also seemed to mirror the heavily religious language of Iraqi insurgents. Until Wednesday’s statement, which contained verses from the Koran, no one had claimed responsibility for the abduction, which is now the longest-lasting in Gaza for more than a year. – Reuters   A story at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210767,00.html gives the timeline of the journalists’ ordeal. This story ran on Aug 28, 2006.   August 23, 2006: Previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades release first video of Centanni and Wiig. Group demands that Muslims in U.S. jails be released within 72 hours. Group does not say what would happen if deadline passes unanswered Two FOX News journalists were released by their kidnappers Sunday, nearly two weeks after they were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Here is a timeline of events that led to Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig’s release: August 27, 2006: FOX News correspondent Steve Centanni of Washington, D.C., and cameraman Olaf Wiig of New Zealand, are released after nearly two weeks in the Gaza Strip Before the journalists’ release, a new video was released, showing Wiig and Centanni dressed in beige Arab-style robes. The kidnappers claimed both men had converted to Islam. “We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint,” Centanni later tells FOX. August 26, 2006: With 72-hour deadline approaching, a senior Palestinian security official says he sees the “first promising signs” in efforts to free Centanni and Wiig. August 24, 2006: Palestinian officials denounce the Holy Jihad Brigades, saying the kidnapping was harming Palestinian interests. August 19, 2006: 30 members of Palestinian Journalists’ Union gather outside parliamentary building in Gaza. They demand Centanni and Wiig be freed. August 18, 2006: Wiig’s wife, Anita McNaught, makes an emotional plea to his kidnappers to release him and Centanni. August 14, 2006: Centanni and Wiig seized in Gaza City. This was not a recent story but I wanted to highlight the fact that journalists are being kidnapped on a regular basis especially in the Middle East. This story from last year was an important one because the journalists were held for over two weeks before eventually being released. ABC News reporting included some commentary on the fact that the nature of the video made by the captors (in this case a grpoup calling itself “The Holy Jihad Brigades”) made it similar to many such videos released by militant groups in Iraq. The ABC story included quotes from the two captured journalists which helped bring the story immediacy and provided readers with insight into the mens’ plight. The Fox story, as befits a story run by the organisation for which the journalists were working, goes into detail about aspects of the story over the two weeks, including the fact that their fellow journalists (members of the Palestinian Journalists Union) protested in support of their freeodm; and that the two men were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint. l

 

“Milbloggers” disciplined for posting sensitive information

Coming Down on the Milbloggers

In its perennial effort to restrict the kinds of information available to America’s enemies in the wide open Internet world, the Army has issued an updated policy on what qualifies as “operational security” and how the service may restrict the release of such data.

Since as early as 2005, the Army – and, to a lesser extent, other services – has been battling the proliferation of weblogs, or “blogs,” authored by service members often on deployment. Army public affairs and intelligence specialists have been worried that the freewheeling nature of blogs risks divulging certain details of attacks and vulnerabilities that could aid insurgents, who they say scan the internet for tidbits to help in their attacks.

The new Army regulation further defines what qualifies under the “operational security” guidelines and appoints an Army Web Risk Assessment cell to execute a quarterly examination of personal Web sites, releases from family readiness sites, non-government unit pages, blogs as well as .mil sites.

The new regs were first reported by former DT editor Noah Shachtman who now writes for Wired magazine.

The opsec rules preclude bloggers from writing about or posting pictures or videos:

Do not publicly disseminate, or publish photographs displaying critical or sensitive information. Examples include but are not limited to Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strikes, battle scenes, casualties, destroyed or damaged equipment, personnel killed in action (KIA), both friendly and adversary, and the protective measures of military facilities.

The funny thing is the public affairs office in Iraq has already gotten into the “new media” world, airing its own YouTube videos of attacks against enemy positions.

It’s been a constant struggle for the services to balance the rights of free speech with the genuine need to keep information useful to the enemy out of his hands – especially in the electronic media world. The updated regulations give a lot of leeway to unit commanders to regulate the information flow from their soldiers, but one has to wonder whether superiors will err on the side of caution and ban out of hand all blogs authored by troops on deployment.

So far, only a handful of so-called “Milbloggers” have been disciplined for their posts, with one of the best known cases revolving around Spec. Colby Buzzell, whose blog “My War” was shut down a few years ago after his postings gained momentum in the mainstream media and irked his commanders.

Buzzell parlayed his success into a book deal, but others who are caught in the opsec net may not be so fortunate.

The new Army order also covers personal emails, which have always been flagged by commanders who see the risks of compromising information, as well as discussion board entries.

Consult with their immediate supervisor and their OPSEC Officer for an OPSEC review prior to publishing or posting information in a public forum.

(1) This includes, but is not limited to letters, resumes, articles for publication, electronic mail (e-mail), Web site postings, web log (blog) postings, discussion in Internet information forums, discussion in Internet message boards or other forms of dissemination or documentation.

It remains to be seen how intensively the Army will investigate these postings for opsec violations which would take a tremendous amount of manpower considering the over 130,000 troops deployed to Iraq alone.

This story from www.defensetech.org, (Military.com), highlights some of the concerns that the US military hold about the freedom of blogging, about how individuals (in this case military personnel) can take the freedom of the press into their own hands. The military response has included shutting down particular individuals’ blogs and also vetting personal emails which infringe on the attempt to keep information out of the hands of insurgents.

I found this story interesting due to the fact it appears on a Military website which is for military personnel and that it tends to reflect the views of the personnel rather than of the commanders.

 

Kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll

Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old freelance reporter for “The Christian Science Monitor” was kidnapped 12 days ago in Baghdad. A group calling itself the Revenge Brigade released this video of Carroll on Tuesday and now they’re threatening to kill her if the U.S. military doesn’t release all Iraqi female prisoners by Friday.

Bobby Ghosh is a senior correspondent for “TIME” magazine, who was recently reporting in Baghdad and Chris Whitcomb, former FBI special agent, counterterrorism analyst, hostage negotiator and author of the book “White” joined Dan Abrams on the ‘Abrams Report’ Wednesday to discuss the case.

DAN ABRAMS, HOST, ‘ABRAMS REPORT’: Mr. Ghosh, let me start with you. What do we know about this area where she was abducted?

APARISIM “BOBBY” GHOSH, “TIME” MAGAZINE SENIOR CORR.: Well, it is in an overwhelmingly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad al-Adel. It has been known for harboring many Sunni insurgent and terrorist groups.

I’ve been there many times, but always exercising maximum caution.

ABRAMS: So it’s known as a dangerous area, right? If fact, someone else, a woman who was eventually killed was kidnapped in that same basic area, right?

GHOSH: That’s correct. Margaret Hassan was kidnapped not far from there. We’ve known that various insurgent groups have bases there, operate out of there, and there are frequent Iraqi and American sweeps of that neighborhood to try and grab the bad guys.

ABRAMS: Let me read a little bit from this from an article that Jill herself wrote in February/March 2005 in “The American Journalism Review”.

In a place where keeping a low profile is the best way to stay alive, the small operations of a freelancer seems safer than those of big media organizations, which rent houses replete with armed guards. Several freelance journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq, but most agree such attacks have more to do with bad luck than with freelancing.

Bobby, what do you know about this organization that claims to have kidnapped her?

GHOSH: Almost nothing. This is a new name. Very likely it is a fake one. Quite often in kidnappings like this, they invent a name. The nature in which this video has been released—you can’t hear what she’s saying. A small snatch of videotape suggest that this is a relatively new organization.

The experienced terrorists have a much sleeker operation. They put the word out almost immediately after a grab. They have a video in which you can hear the victim speaking, usually reading from some kind. This suggests to me that this is a group that is not familiar with this kidnapping business.

ABRAMS: All right, Chris, with all that in mind, how does that effect the negotiations?

CHRIS WHITCOMB, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, Dan, you only have two options. One is negotiations, the other is a tactical resolution and I think that makes better sense. If you don’t have an open line of communication, all you can do is communicate through the media, and that’s not very effective in any way. Right now they want to gather as much information as possible and try to channel that to the tactical elements, meaning the military assets inside the country. Yes, the FBI have 70, 80 people in country, the intelligence assets inside and try to do something to affect her release that way. It’s not as good a position here in terms of negotiations.

ABRAMS: Chris, what about working through the local clerics, et cetera? It seems that’s worked in the past.

WHITCOMB: Well that certainly is. If you have an organization here that is not professional, quote-unquote “professional,” I think that very well may. Remember Dan they’re doing one of two things. They’re either trying to get something out of this financially, which is many times the case or they want to make a point.

Those we’ve seen in the past where they’re trying to make a statement, they issue a videotape and they kill the hostage because all they want to do is show the U.S. is a bad guy. In this case we certainly hope that they want to get something besides that and that these clerics and the community leaders can shame them into giving her up. And I think that’s very good possibility in this case.

ABRAMS: Bobby Ghosh, I mean she is known as a reporter who went out there to get the story, maybe more than most, right?

GHOSH: Absolutely. The one common thread in all of her journalism is you’ll find when you read her reports is her effort to understand the lives of ordinary Iraqis. She didn’t confine herself to meeting the regular talking heads, the ministers and generals or going just to press conferences. She always tried to make a connection with ordinary Iraqis, understand their lives, understand how they were living through this traumatic time and bring that out in her journalism.

ABRAMS: Here’s again more of what she said about covering this story.

Only a story of this enormity, with nothing less than America’s global credibility, the stability of the Middle East and countless lives at stake could be worth risking personal safety and financial solvency to cover it as a freelancer.

Bobby, I guess that sort of reflects her view on this.

GHOSH: Absolutely. That sounds exactly like Jill. She’s articulate, there’s many times in conversations with other journalists. She passionately believed in the story. She enjoyed living there. She enjoyed working with Iraqi people, to a degree that is very rarely seen.

ABRAMS: Chris, this “demand”, quote-unquote—and I put it in quotes because it seems to me to be sort of nonsense, this notion that oh the Americans have to release all the female Iraqis who are in custody. This is fairly typical, right? They make these demands that they know are not going to be met.

WHITCOMB: Right, Dan. Like I said two things, they either want something out of this in terms of money or they’re trying to make a statement. Those in the past that we’ve seen where they issue a videotape, they’re just trying to show the world that they’re trying to get the United States government and coalition forces to do something.

And then in the past, have ended in violence. We hope this is not that, that this is something that they will see that she’s a liability, see that they really are not going to come out of this on the winning end and that they will make some kind of arrangements either to get rid of her or to work something out with those community leaders and those clerics who have been speaking out.

This story had some interesting and knowledgeable commentators who were able to comment on the fact that the kidnappers in this case were probably new to the game, due to the fact that the videotape of the kidnapped journalist which they released contained no audible dialogue. Bobby Ghosh, the correspondent from Time Magazine talked of how Jill Carroll was focussed on the representing the lives of ordinary Iraquis in her journalism.

Because this was not simply a news presentation from one news reader or source, but a round-table discussion between a leading news man and two other experts, one a counter-terrorism and hostage negotiation expert, this story provides a different approach to the reporting of the story than one would normally encounter. The opinion of both experts gives much more detail and understanding of the central issues of the stories.

The experts also represented Jill Carroll’s views by quoting parts of stories she had written, and using personal quotes from her to emphaise her own passion for the news, and why she was going out there to get these stories on the conflict zone. This is unusual since most stories on kidnapped journalists do not quote the journalist themselves.

 

Another angle on Levinson kidnap case

In another angle on the Levinson case, the wife of the missing ex-FBI agent pleaded with Iran, as reported by www.cnn.com.

This story was reported on May 10, around the time rumours had surfaced that Levinson was back in the US. Christine Levinson said that she thought her husband was still in Iraq.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The wife of a retired FBI agent who has been missing in Iran for months met with U.S. diplomats in Washington Wednesday.

Christine Levinson is trying find information about Robert Levinson’s whereabouts. She told CNN she is convinced her husband is still in Iran, and she has appealed directly to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad through a letter.

“Because he is the president of Iran, he has the ability to get information and help me find Bob and bring him home,” she told CNN’s Jill Dougherty in an exclusive interview.

Washington, which has no diplomatic ties with Tehran, has made approximately five inquiries about Levinson’s whereabouts since he disappeared on March 8, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday.

Levinson disappeared during a trip to Kish Island in southern Iran.

His wife said she had no idea what he was doing there, but noted that it was related to his job running a consulting firm.

She told CNN that she believes Levinson met with Dawud Salahuddin, an American fugitive who lives in Iran, shortly before Levinson’s disappearance and that a man purporting to be Salahuddin called her “right when he disappeared.”

“He said it was going to be fine and he’d [Levinson] be home in a couple days,” Christine Levinson said, adding “that’s the only contact” she has had from Iran.

Last month, Salahuddin — known in Iran as Hassan Abdulrahman — told reporters that he saw Levinson shortly before he disappeared on Kish Island.

Salahuddin said he met Levinson at a hotel on Kish on March 8 in an effort to put Levinson in touch with Iranian authorities to help him investigate cigarette smuggling, as part of his contract work for a tobacco company.

Salahuddin had converted to Islam and was given refuge in Iran after admitting in interviews to killing Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former Iranian diplomat under the shah, in Maryland in 1980.

He has repeatedly expressed a desire to return to the United States.

Salahuddin said he was detained by Iranian officials in plain clothes and taken away from the room he shared with Levinson to be interrogated about his Iranian passport.

When he was freed the next day, he said, he was told by officials that Levinson had returned to Dubai.

His story matches accounts that friends of Levinson’s tell. They say Levinson feared he would be arrested after his meeting with Salahuddin.

Senior administration officials told CNN that they believe Salahuddin met with Levinson, but do not believe him to be a credible source of information on Levinson’s whereabouts.

These officials said they suspect Iranian authorities have seized Levinson and are holding him in a jail inside the country.

However, they stress they have no information confirming their suspicions and voiced frustration with the lack of developments in the case.

At Wednesday’s briefing, McCormack said one of the last communications that Washington has had with Tehran via other governments dealt with news reports that Levinson was detained by Iranian security forces — reports, he added, that cannot be validated.

“We included that by way as saying, ‘Well, look, you say there’s no information. This might be something that provides you a lead,’ ” the spokesman said.

Christine Levinson said the ordeal has been a nightmare for her and the couple’s seven children.

She expressed no interest in the details of her husband’s work running a consulting firm, noting that his previous job as an FBI agent took him to dangerous countries.

Levinson retired from the agency about 10 years ago and was not involved in intelligence matters with the bureau, officials have said.

This time, she said, “I just think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The Levinsons’ 33rd wedding anniversary is Friday”

This story was interesting as focussing on the human interest angle. Levinson’s wife said the ordeal of his kidnapping has been a nightmare for her and her seven children. The story did fill in many details of the story that were not widely reported in other sources, such as giving more details about Salhuddin, Levinson’s Iranian contact, and the fact that he had contacted Levinosn’s wife directly.

 

Kidnapping of former FBI agent Levinson raises “dirty war” questions

Brian Ledbetter’s Snapped Shot blog has another interesting story in regard to the kidnapping of Robert Levinson. Ledbetter continues his ability as a blogger independent of mainstream media to raise questions about what the American Government, and the mainstream media, are not telling us in this case. On April 15 Ledbetter reported as follows:

Just why Robert Levinson, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and now private investigator, should venture into Iran to meet a American fugitive wanted for murder in the US remains a mystery that the highest Bush administration authorities are trying to unravel.

As the Financial Times revealed this week, Mr Levinson disappeared on March 8 after a six-hour meeting on the Iranian island of Kish with Dawud Salahuddin, an American who converted to Islam and was recruited by revolutionaries to assassinate an Iranian opposition activist near Washington in 1980.

Friends of Mr Levinson are mystified that he took the risk of travelling for such a meeting. They fear he is the victim of a sting operation by Iranian secret services engaged in an escalating “dirty war” between the US and Iran, involving hostage-taking and covert cross- border operations.

On May, 2007, Ledbetter reported that:

According to Iranian sources, Bob Levinson has been released from custody, and has been returned to the United States. Far be it from me to suggest that Iranian sources are lying, but the State Department is so far unable to confirm the statement on any level.

 

Robert Levinson, still missing.

US officials have not confirmed the return of a former FBI agent that Washington claimed had gone missing in the Iranian island of Kish.

Iranian sources reported on Thursday that former FBI Agent, Robert Levinson, had returned to his country.

State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth said that the department was aware of unconfirmed accounts in the media that he had departed from Iran.

However, he stated that the US will continue to work with the Swiss Embassy in Iran to get information on Levinson’s whereabouts.

This story was reported at the PressTV internet site http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=8533&sectionid=351020101
with some additional details, including the intriguing detail that a “news black out” surrounded the alleged return of the businessman and former FBI agent to the US.

Ex-FBI man returns to US from Iran
Thu, 03 May 2007 14:14:11 A former FBI agent the US government claimed had gone missing in the Iranian island of Kish has returned to his country amid news black out.

The US National Security Agency had said that Former FBI Agent, Robert Levinson, had been arrested following a meeting with a former US citizen on the Iranian Island of Kish on March 8, and was detained by Iranians until Sunday.

“The Iranian officials have concluded that he was merely a businessman with no ill intentions toward Iran, said a source in the Agency.

The US National Security Agency reportedly received the news of his release early on Monday, US time.

The US National Security News Stories internet site, http://www.storiesthatmatter.org, reported on May 14 that claim Levinson had returned, or been returned to America, were false. They admitted their previous reporting of this has been incorrect and said they “regret the error”. It appeared that Levinson’s FBI past has begun to appear more significant to his Iranian captors after they had interrogated him.

NSNS Stories

Former FBI Agent Still in Iran According to Salahuddin

Written by the National Security News Service

Monday, 14 May 2007

National Security News Service incorrectly reported on April 30 that Iran had decided to release retired FBI agent Robert Levinson. NSNS regrets the error. The source of that information was the American fugitive that Levinson met with in Iran before he disappeared on March 8 on Kish Island. Salahuddin was not the sole source of the information that Levinson’s release from Iran was pending. Several U.S. intelligence authorities confirmed that information. These sources are now saying that intercepted intelligence from Iran indicates that Iranian authorities changed their mind as they learned from media accounts that described Levinson’s FBI career as more significant then he revealed during his interrogation sessions. This led Iranian officials to believe that he should not be released according to both US intelligence sources and Salahuddin. US and Iran have been grabbing each other’s foreign nationals for the last several months. It began with the US military grabbing five Iranian intelligence officers in the Kurdish controlled area of Iraq. Picture of Bob Levinson from helpboblevinson.com In December, Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, was visiting her mother in Tehran when authorities began to harass her. Last week she was arrested and taken to Tehran’s gruesome Evin prison. Esfandiari holds dual citizenship, a concept the Iranian regime does not recognize.

Many questions till surroung this kidapping case. Although the victim is not a journalist, what is interesting here is that journalists are often kidnapped because they are foreign nationals in conflict situations. In a complex case such as the Levinson one, where conflicting reports of outcomes arise as the case progresses, different news media can be seen to treat the case in different ways. The US National Security News Service reports the case in a way that frames Levinson’s kidnapping as another case of a foreign national being grabbed. It evades some questions about why Levinson should have met in Iran with the fugitive Dawud Salahuddin in the first place.

 

Media embedding leads to dramatic kidnapped journalist shots

Brian Ledbetter’s blog highlights the issue of media sources embedding with the military in conflcti areas, especially in the Middle East. These photos of Fayyad al Aba, a local Hamas leader, being kidnapped by Palestinian militants allied to President Mahmoud Abbas, on Jan 28, 2007, highlight the problematic nature of news photojournalism.

 

Blogger reports on cases of kidnapped journalists

An American computer science student called Brian Ledbetter has a fascinating blog at www.snappedshot.com wherehe writes stories which question images presented by the media. Part of the site deals with stories about kidnapped journalists.

The following story, “Peruvian Photgrapher kidnapped!”, about Jaime Razuri, a photographer from french news agency France-Presse, is interesting because it shows some of the obstacles facing a blogger trying to report the news. Firstly, Brain L admits that his stpry is four days old, and he’s trying to catch up. Then he provides a link to a blog which he has asusmed to be the journalist’s blog, but actually turn out to be a site dedicated to the liberation of this particular journalist.

If Brian had been working for a newspaper or TV news medium, he would probably have gotten into trouble for publishing unverified information. However, this example shows how human fallibility can creep into personal blogs, where there is no editor to oversee and question stories handed in by the reporter.

AFP photographer Jaime Razuri has been kidnapped “by unidentified gunmen” in the Palestinian Territories! I’ll have more details as soon as I get them, but for now, here are some pictures of a demonstration calling for his immediate release.

(This shows you how behind I am — The kidnapping occurred 4 days ago, according to wire reports. Still working on catching up, so bear with me, folks!)

From what I can tell, this is Jaime’s blog. I don’t have any translations handy, but I’ll be scouring it shortly. Update: The blog is dedicated to Jaime’s liberation, it is not his. Reading comprehension before coffee = Bad. Reading comprehension en espanol before coffee = Worse.

According to the Palestinian government, which is controlled mostly by Fatah, Mr. Razuri was kidnapped by Hamas. Considering the source, I’ll take that with a grain of salt.

Other bloggers: Not Ready for my Burqa, EuropeHorizon, Joshuapundit, Israelated, Letra Suelta, Power and Control, Yoni the Blogger, Black Dog Brigade, Pajamas Media, Backspin.

Nevertheless Brian covers many interesting stories of kidnapped journalists on his blog. His blog concentrates on photojournalism and provides some particularly dramatic images of the journalists in trouble.