Elsschot
03-02-06, 09:47
Europeans leaving Gaza as prophet cartoons spark outrage
By News Agencies
Diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners are leaving the West Bank and Gaza Strip as cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that were published in several European newspapers sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
Palestinian gunmen burst into a West Bank hotel and abducted a 21-year-old German teacher in Nablus on Thursday evening, and Gaza militants surrounded European headquarters in the Strip. But although the kidnapping was short-lived - within an hour, Palestinian police nabbed the gunmen and freed the teacher - it was just one of a series of worrying incidents that spurred foreigners' decisions to get out of the territories.
In Gaza, foreign diplomats and journalists began pulling out of the Palestinian areas and two countries closed diplomatic offices Thursday after masked Palestinian gunmen, incensed by the depictions of the prophet, threatened to kidnap foreigners.
By News Agencies
Diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners are leaving the West Bank and Gaza Strip as cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that were published in several European newspapers sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
Palestinian gunmen burst into a West Bank hotel and abducted a 21-year-old German teacher in Nablus on Thursday evening, and Gaza militants surrounded European headquarters in the Strip. But although the kidnapping was short-lived - within an hour, Palestinian police nabbed the gunmen and freed the teacher - it was just one of a series of worrying incidents that spurred foreigners' decisions to get out of the territories.
In Gaza, foreign diplomats and journalists began pulling out of the Palestinian areas and two countries closed diplomatic offices Thursday after masked Palestinian gunmen, incensed by the depictions of the prophet, threatened to kidnap foreigners.