Australian teacher freed after Gaza abduction

An Australian deputy principal and his Dutch boss have been released, eight hours after Palestinian gunmen abducted them in the Gaza Strip, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has reported.

The pair were pulled from their car outside the American International School in Beit Lahiya as they drove to work at 6.30am yesterday and bundled into another vehicle.

Brian Ambrosio, from Wangaratta in Victoria, and Hendrik Taatgen were freed at the Gaza City office of the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, after the intervention of a Palestinian MP, the SMH reported.

Gunmen with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, had claimed responsibility for the abduction, which took place on the last day of term before Christmas holidays.

The gunmen had demanded the release of faction leaders jailed in the West Bank town of Jericho for killing an Israeli cabinet minister in 2001. The leaders are guarded under US and British supervision.

- HERALD ONLINE STAFF