Western hostages in Gaza 'safe and sound': ministry

GAZA CITY, Saturday, (AFP)

Two Western journalists held in Gaza were "safe and sound" Saturday after a deadline set by their captors for Washington to free Muslim prisoners passed, the Palestinian interior ministry said.

"We will continue our efforts and contacts to secure the release of the kidnapped journalists," ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hillal told AFP an hour after the midday (0900 GMT) ultimatum expired.

"We can confirm that they are safe and sound but we cannot give fuller details for the time being because we want our efforts to be crowned with success."

US diplomats said they had no word on the two journalists who had been working for US television network Fox News when they were seized by unidentified gunmen on August 14 and bundled into a car.

"I have no new information, this kind of case takes time," said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the US consulate general in east Jerusalem.

"We are continuing to work to obtain their release in contact with the Palestinian security services and president Mahmud Abbas."

There had been no news on the fate of Olaf Wiig, a freelance cameraman from New Zealand and his producer colleague, Steve Centanni, from the United States, until a video of the pair was released on Wednesday.

The videotape -- which showed the men looking healthy and relaxed -- was released in conjunction with a statement from the previously unknown group holding them.

The so-called Holy Jihad Brigades demanded that all Muslim prisoners in the United States be released within 72 hours, or by Saturday noon (0900 GMT), but did not say what would happen if the demands were not met.

The US State Department rejected the demands, insisting the pair be released unconditionally, although US officials in the region have said they were working with Palestinian authorities to try to secure the men's release.

Asked whether Palestinian security services had located the kidnappers, Palestinian interior minister Siad Siam said Friday it was too "early" to say.

"That should remain secret in order to support the efforts and I hope that they will be released. There is reason to be encouraged," added the minister.

The Hamas-led government, boycotted by the West, has repeatedly called for the two men to be released.

Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, has been in Gaza nearly continuously since the abduction and on Thursday issued another emotional appeal for their freedom.

New Zealand has said its officials in the region are continuing "intense consultation" with Palestinian authorities and others to secure the hostages' freedom.

The video of the two men showed them dressed in tracksuits, sitting barefoot and cross-legged.

"We are alive and well. We are in fairly good health," Centanni said, asking friends and family to "do anything you can to try to help us get out of here."

The kidnapping was the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in the lawless Gaza Strip since Israel pulled out of the territory last September.

All of the abducted foreigners were subsequently freed safely by kidnappers who had sought the release of prisoners held by the Palestinian Authority.