Wiig family's fears mount

A New Zealand ambassador said today he was "very concerned" about the safety of two kidnapped journalists, and urged their unknown kidnappers to return them.
Ambassador Peter Rider's concerns echoed the emotions of the parents of one of the kidnapped pair, Kiwi cameraman Olaf Wiig.
Reverend Roger Wiig and his wife, Carol, had been in Napier visiting his 90-year-old mother when they received news of the gunpoint kidnapping last Monday.
Initial optimism their son would be released within a day or two had gradually been replaced by growing fear for his safety.
The couple left Napier last Friday to go to Wellington to be with their other son, and Olaf's twin, Sven.
"They were pretty cut up when we put them on the plane," Roger Wiig's brother, Adrian, said today.
"It's terrible for them now ... it's the not knowing."
He said the couple had been called by Prime Minister Helen Clark and had received "amazing" support from government agencies.
"They have been wonderful," Mr Wiig said. He did not know whether the couple would be returning to Napier.
"They are just playing things by ear."
Mr Rider spoke outside the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City shortly after the two men met. He had arrived in the area several days ago to lead a delegation working to free 36-year-old Mr Wiig and an American correspondent, Steve Centanni, 60, who were seized from their TV van near the Palestinian security services headquarters in Gaza City.
Mr Centanni's brother, Ken, appealed for his brother's safety.
"Please contact our family," Ken Centanni urged the kidnappers.
"Let us know he is alive and unharmed."
Mr Centanni's comments, first shown on Fox television, were later aired on the Arab satellite TV station, Al-Jazeera. Also today (NZ time), Ken LaCorte, a senior Fox News official, arrived in Gaza to follow up on efforts to release the journalists. He met security officials and others, a local Fox reporter said. More than two dozen foreigners have been abducted by Palestinian militants, usually in an attempt to settle personal scores, but almost all have been released within hours. This is the longest that foreigners have been held. Security officials are especially concerned because all the militant groups have denied involvement and no demands have been put forth. Mr Rider said he had no further information about the missing men: "Just like the family, we are very concerned about the safety and security of the hostages, and we are working together to try to secure their safe return." "Please release these men," he urged their captors.AP