Senior members of the Army of Islam terrorist organization are proposing a prisoner swap between themselves and Hamas which would free one kidnap victim but ensure the continued captivity, if not death, of the other.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Under the proposal, British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reporter Alan Johnston would be traded for IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists a year ago, and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Johnston was yanked from his car at gunpoint by Army of Islam kidnappers outside his BBCGazaCity bureau office on March 12th this year.

 

The proposal was reported by the IslamOnline.net web site. "They want Hamas to deliver Shalit to the Army of Islam, which would then negotiate with Israel swapping him for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails," according to ‘well-placed sources’ quoted by IOI.

 

"In return the Army of Islam would hand over Johnston to Hamas, which can turn him over safely to Britain."

 

According to the report, the mediators believe that if Hamas successfully delivers Johnston to the British through the swap, it would project the terrorist gang as an authority and improve Hamas's relations with Europe.



Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says his organization has rejected the proposal. Earlier in the week, one of the two rival Palestinian Authority Prime Ministers Ismail Haniyeh, who leads Hamas, angrily ordered the Army of Islam to hand Johnston over.

 

Haniyeh warned the shadowy terrorist gang that Hamas would not tolerate the foot-dragging much longer; Johnston has been held for more than 100 days, longer than any other journalist kidnapped in Gaza.

 

Threats that Hamas had lost patience prompted his captors to release a video clip this week showing the journalist strapped into a suicide bomber’s explosives belt, warning it would be detonated if the Hamas terrorists tried to take him by force. The BBC immediately asked Hamas to back down.

 

“If they [Army of Islam] think this is Islamic, it is not. If they think they are serving the Palestinian cause, they are not,” railed Haniyeh.  Islamic law prohibits the abduction of civilians, according to IOI.

 

Hamas spokesman Barhoum confirmed the law, saying “There is no link between capturing an Israeli occupation soldier in a legitimate resistance operation and abducting an innocent civilian in violation of Islam.”

 

Barhoum added that the abduction of Johnston was “simply a criminal act” which has brought shame on the PA.