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DUBAI - A radical Islamist detained in Britain, whose release was demanded by a group claiming the abduction of BBC's Gaza correspondent, has offered to meet the captors, a London-based Islamist organisation said today.
The Islamic Observatory Centre said in a statement it had received a letter from radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada offering to help gain the release of BBC's Alan Johnston.
Abu Qatada said he was issuing the letter because the "British government has been trying to deal with me in an incorrect manner in the matter of Alan Johnston". He did not elaborate.
He is one of more than a dozen Arab men held in detention or under house arrest in Britain as threats to national security. Britain's Foreign Office said it was unaware of the letter.
Abu Qatada, who is suspected of close links to al Qaeda, has been described by the British government as a "significant international terrorist", making it very unlikely he would be allowed to go to Gaza.
A British court ruled in February Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan, despite the likelihood he would face a flawed trial there.
"I am ready to travel to the city of Gaza with a BBC delegation to meet the ... captors with the aim of getting the journalist Alan Johnston released," the centre quoted the cleric as saying in the letter.
"It is clear that the British government is not serious in getting ... Johnston freed and is heading towards his getting killed," said the letter, which could not be authenticated.
Army of Islam, a little-known group has claimed responsibility for abducting Johnston, who disappeared on March 12 in Gaza. It demanded in an internet message that Britain free Muslim prisoners, particularly Abu Qatada.
"We received this letter today. Abu Qatada's lawyer also knows about this letter," a staff member of the Islamic Observatory Centre told Reuters in Dubai by telephone. The centre acts as an Islamic rights watchdog.
Abu Qatada's lawyer could net be reached for comment.
- REUTERS
