Fox News employees being held by al-Qaeda in Gaza or Fatah militia?

The clock is ticking for Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig and speculation about who actually kidnapped them was pointing to al-Qaeda in Gaza. At least that was what was thought until the Jerusalem Post reported "The two Fox News employees kidnapped in the Gaza Strip recently are being held by one of Fatah's militias". This news is via Palestinian Authority security sources and Hamas activists.

. . . some Hamas activists in Gaza City said they were convinced that one of Fatah's armed groups was holding the two.

"Fatah has many armed groups in the Gaza Strip," said a senior Hamas activist. "Some of these groups operate independently and are not in touch with their political leaders. Our sources have told us that the two foreign journalists are in their hands."

Another top Hamas activist told the Post that his movement's investigations have shown that the two journalists were initially kidnapped by members of one of the PA's security forces. "The kidnappers, who wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian leadership to pay them their salaries, later handed the two over to Fatah gunmen," he said. "They are now being held in one of the refugee camps near Gaza City." source

Until this recent news of the Fatah militia, several folks believed al-Qadea in Gaza was guilty. The Blotter, via The Jawa Report, says, "Terrorism analysts say al Qaeda may have conducted their first operation in Gaza."

The language in the statement, which denounces the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is similar in style and content to the kind of dispatches issued by Abu Musab al Zarqawi when he was leading al Qaeda in Iraq.

One sentence states, "You infidels and masters of oppression: Convert to Islam and you will be safe…We came to you with the intention of slaughtering or beheading." The statement goes on to denounce "democracy" and the regimes that seek secular goals, such as "democracy and freedom."

"The rhetoric is vintage al Qaeda," said Fawaz Gerges, an ABC News Consultant and professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence College.

Dr. Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report, refers to this group as AQ-3.0, " .... "possible that a group of disgruntled PA security officials with radical jihadi tendencies can get together on the internet with like minded jihadis in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Saudi Arabia, give themselves a spiffy name, and voila--you are al Qaeda."

What really concerns Dr. Shackleford is GIMF (Global islamic Media Front):

The Global Islamic Media Front today released a copy of the Steve Centanni & Olaf Wiig hostage video in an internet posting. Along with the video, the al Qaeda prop[a]ganda production and distribution outlet also released photos of personal IDs found on the hostages, and a copy of the statement faxed to two Arab media outlets yesterday. The posting was made at an Islamist forum with ties to al Qaeda.

It appears some on the left think we should actually negotiate with al-Qaeda:

Over at the Daily Kos, Daily Kos diarist gshenaut, thinks we should have a nice, long, conversation with the terrorists, perhaps in a nice cafe, with soft music, tea, and burka clad waitresses: [snip]

Some people, reactionary right wingers no doubt, probably think that's a bad idea. But, it's not. After all, didn't we ultimately end World War 2 by having a nice chat with Hitler and Tojo? Wait, forget that point. Look at it like this: We want them to stop murdering us and they want us to die. So, there has to be some middle ground, right?

PS: You laugh at these idiots now. If a Democrat becomes President in 2008, people who think like gshenaut and Kos will be shaping our foreign policy. (from Right Wing News, via In the Bullpen)

Chad says:

The comparison most used for negotiating with terrorist groups is the IRA. To gshenaut’s credit, he made no such comparison, but a handful of the commenters did.

There’s a huge difference between the IRA and Al Qaida or the overall radical Islamic movement. The IRA wanted independence, if you will, from Britain and didn’t want to actually rule over the entire United Kingdom much less any other nation. Al Qaida on the other hand does want to impose Sharia Law over the entire planet. Why people can’t see these differences I’ll never know. In the Bullpen

Patterico's Pontifications via Allah, points out that some on the left, Democratic Underground, are 'ecstatic' about the abductions because the men happen to be Fox employees. That is disgusting!

I noticed in the video of Wiig and Centanni, Wiig put special emphasis on his statement asking his family to 'put pressure on the government'. Could this have been a message to folks watching, that the government had something to do with his capture? Digger's Realm thinks that might just be the case:

I find it hard to believe that any hostage taking terrorist group could work in the Palestinian area without the other groups and the Palestinian Authority knowing about it. Usually groups celebrate these captures of high profile reporters, but this time it has been silent and that it very odd.

The families of Centanni and Wiig are doing and saying all the right things.

UPDATE: via Stander's Point, Fox News is reporting the "first promising signs". What those signs are we will have to wait and see.

Also reporting:
Hot Air
Michelle Malkin
SITE Institute
Freedom's Zone
A Lady's Ruminations, "Keep Praying for Steve and Olaf"

Comments

[Rastaman]

Kidnapping people who were doing no harm and using them for leverage to get paid their salaries? I know that these people have so little regard for themselves that they have none for anyone else, but even so I'm still amazed by these stories. Why didn't they just rob the journalists and let them go? I hope they get out OK.

On the other side of the coin...

I see reporters on TV running around Gaza showing demonstrations and burning cars and bodies and I see the looks that people give them and wonder just how much they get paid to do that. They're putting their lives on the line on the chance that their derring-do will boost their careers, then end up becoming news items themselves when they get taken and used as pawns, maybe tortured and beheaded, but always being one more logistical problem to add to the mess.

Do we really need more footage of screaming crowds of rock-throwing muslims?

Rastaman
www.islamanazi.com

[James Biga]

I still have the question of what is our government going to do if they behead these gentleman? Action in Gaza by the U.S. mught speed up the "Big Surprise" that Ahmadinejad was talking about. The last thing Hamas want's is direct U.S. involvement in Gaza, the West Bank, or any other "Palestinian" area. Will our government actually take this step? I hope the decision isn't necessary.

[Stander]

Excellent work, Deb. Thanks for keeping the news up.
I'm just amazed at how well Ken and Anita seem to be bearing up in all this. They're really bringin' some game to the table.

[Nancy French]

Seriously, it's hard to be amazed at how others glory in the tragedy of others... especially if they're Republicans.

Awful.