MIDDLE EAST:A senior Hamas leader in Gaza last night said the movement was hoping to win the imminent release of the kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a hardliner within the Hamas movement, said there was a fresh effort under way to negotiate for Mr Johnston's release.
"The last appointment given for the kidnappers is today," he told Reuters. "If they are not going to free him smoothly, we are going to use every way in order to set him free - safe. I am looking forward to seeing him."
His comments followed a harshly worded statement issued on Sunday night by a member of the Army of Islam group, which says it is holding the journalist and which has dismissed reports that his release was near.
The masked spokesman said the group still wanted its demands met, including the release of a radical cleric held in a British jail, and threatened it might kill Mr Johnston.
Another official close to the negotiations confirmed yesterday that Hamas was pushing for an end to the kidnapping.
"Today there is an attempt to resolve the stand-off peacefully. We hope the problem can be resolved without force," the official said.
Mr Johnston (45) was seized on March 12th as he drove the short distance from the BBC office in Gaza City to his apartment.
The Army of Islam, which released a video showing the reporter earlier this month, is understood to be led by a member of the Dogmush clan, a large criminal family in Gaza City.
The Dogmush has about 2,000 armed men and, even before the kidnapping, was locked in a bitter dispute with Hamas.
The Islamist movement has made it clear it intends to crack down on the Dogmush clan as part of a drive to enforce security in Gaza. - (Guardian service)