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Bekijk Volledige Versie : Alan Johnston ademt vrij dankzij HAMAS ondanks FATAH



Coolassprov MC
13-11-07, 08:07
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/7062639.stm


There are some people who claim that Hamas orchestrated my kidnapping as a kind of vast publicity stunt. But I don't believe that. And perhaps what separates me from the conspiracy theorists is that I was on the inside, and able to watch the kidnappers close up as they reacted to the mounting Hamas pressure.

A map showing Gaza and Gaza City

One of Gaza's most notorious clans, the Doghmush, was central to my abduction. It hosted in its neighbourhood, and protected and led the jihadist group, the Army of Islam, which actually held me.

The Doghmush had certainly been allied with Hamas in the past, but at the time of my kidnapping the clan and the faction were locked in the most bitter blood feud that I had seen in my time in Gaza. Hamas men had killed several Doghmush in cold blood at a checkpoint just before Christmas. In response the Doghmush were demanding the deaths of a number of Hamas members.

Given that background there was bound to be extreme tension between the clan and the faction once Hamas had dispensed with its rival, Fatah, and taken complete control of Gaza in late June. And for many reasons Hamas needed to show quickly that it could deliver what it would regard as law and order.

It had to show that it really was in charge. My kidnapping was a kind of test, and if Hamas couldn't solve it, it would have sent a bad signal. The message to other clans or militias would have been that if you are tough enough you can run your own little corner of Gaza and do what you like - that Hamas can tolerate no-go areas.