CAIRO: Mohamed Habib, the Deputy Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, has issued a statement condemning the Gaza kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnston and demanded his unconditional release. "These despicable acts aim at causing a state of confusion and fear among foreigners living in Gaza Strip, especially journalists, said the statement, published on the Muslim Brotherhood's website. "This will make it harder for them to show the tragic reality and suffering of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation, and distort the image of the Palestinian government led by Hamas. Johnston, the only foreign correspondent currently based in Gaza, has been reporting from its troubled cities and crowded refugee camps for the past three years. "Alan Johnston has dedicated the past three years living and working among the people of Gaza so that their experiences can be reported fairly and accurately to the outside world, said the BBC in a statement. "We would therefore urge everyone with influence here to continue their efforts so that Alan may be reunited with his family and colleagues at the earliest opportunity. Details about the abduction are sketchy. His abandoned car was discovered after work one evening, and Palestinian police report that gunmen were seen in the area. No further information about Johnston has been released to the public, nor have his kidnappers come forward or made demands. Habib's statement comes on the heels of the formation of a national unity government, which will bind Fatah and its Islamist rival Hamas together in a cabinet heavily stacked with technocrats. Both parties hope that the deal will help the Palestinian Authority overcome an international financial and aid embargo that has been levied against it in the year since Hamas' electoral victory. In that time, the Muslim Brotherhood has tried to maintain a stance of distanced support for the Palestinian Islamist group. In recent weeks, more than 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been detained amid a government crackdown on opposition groups. On February 6, the government referred the cases of 25 members, including Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat El-Shatir, to a military tribunal where they face charges of funding a banned organization. With a crackdown in full swing, and images of Palestinian infighting broadcast around the world in recent months, the Brotherhood has been careful not to appear too supportive of a group which both the United States and Europe condemn as terrorists. In January, Brotherhood Chairman Mahdi Akef issued a statement blaming both Fatah and Hamas for the violence then gripping the Occupied Territories. Analysts saw the move as a sign of the balance that the banned Islamist group is trying to strike. Dr Hussein Amin, the chairman of the department of mass communication at the American University in Cairo and a member of the Policy Committee of the ruling National Democratic Party, said Akef and Habib's recent statements are not surprising. "The Muslim Brotherhood is not aligning themselves with Hamas or against Hamas, he said. "If they appear to direct their criticisms directly against Hamas, then a lot of other Muslims will get angry at them. "Criticizing both groups is a nice political move that makes both Hamas and Fatah happy. As long as what they say is derived from the Quran, then both sides ill accept it. No one can dispute that. According to Dr Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the once-jailed democracy activist and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, the Brotherhood fears being caught in this backlash against Hamas or in any political fallout that stems from Palestinian civil strife. "Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, so that's why the Brotherhood feels partially responsible for Hamas' actions, He told The Daily Star Egypt. "Whatever bad press Hamas gets will affect the Muslim Brotherhood here, so they have been critical. But in order to make it more palatable, they criticize both sides and call for restraint on both sides. "I think the Brotherhood is generally embarrassed by mistakes made by affiliated groups. The regime always uses tactical mistakes like these as an excuse to crack down even more.
