Gaza jihadists threaten to kill Italian

Group says Arrigoni – a pacifist and blogger – will be killed unless Hamas releases its leader, Hesham al-Saeed A jihadist group in the Gaza Strip aligned with al-Qaida has threatened to execute an abducted Italian, unless Hamas releases the group’s leader. A YouTube clip posted by the group said the man they were holding, Vittorio Arrigoni, would be killed on Friday at 5pm local time (2pm GMT) unless Hesham al-Saeedi, whom Hamas detained last month, was released. “If our demands are not met within 30 hours starting from 11 am of 14.4.2011 the captive will be executed when the period is over,” a text on the video clip said. Arrigoni, a pacifist and blogger, has lived in Gaza for some time. He was shown blindfolded in the three-minute clip with blood around his right eye and a hand can be seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera. A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said it was investigating the abduction. It was unclear when Arrigoni was kidnapped or where he was being held, but an Italian diplomat who serves in the region confirmed he had been abducted. The Arabic text that accompanied the footage of Arrigoni also said “the Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption” and it described Italy as “the infidel state”. Arrigoni told Reuters television when he landed ashore in 2008 that he was part of the Free Gaza Movement, a group that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of the coastal territory. “We’re happy to see all these people because we are here to try to help … you have the same human rights that other people of the world … have, the same rights as the Israelis and the Italians have,” Arrigoni told Reuters at the time. A statement released by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank called for Arrigoni’s “immediate and unconditional release” and said it was counterproductive. “This action does not serve the just cause of the Palestinian people and harms it,” Abbas’s statement said. Arrigoni is the first foreign national to be abducted in the Gaza Strip since BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was held for 114 days by an al-Qaida-inspired group called the Army of Islam. He was released in 2007. Arrigoni came to the Gaza Strip on a boat bringing humanitarian supplies in 2008 that Israel, which enforces a blockade on the tiny coastal territory, allowed into Gaza port. Hamas, which has in the past denied any al-Qaida presence in Gaza, has been trying to keep other Islamist groups in check following a Israeli military offensive in 2009. Gaza Middle East Italy Hamas Palestinian territories Europe guardian.co.uk

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