MIDDLE EAST:Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he was convinced a BBC journalist abducted in Gaza last month was still alive despite an Islamist group's claim to have killed him.
Mr Abbas said while on a visit to Sweden that the abductors of BBC reporter Alan Johnston had been identified, though the Palestinian Authority had not been in contact with the group.
An e-mail in the name of the Tawhid and Jihad Brigades sent to media outlets on Sunday said the group had killed Johnston, one of the few Western reporters based in Gaza, and would release a video of his killing later.
"Our intelligence services have confirmed to me that he is alive," Mr Abbas said yesterday. - (Reuters)