Gaza gunmen free kidnapped AP photographer

GAZA - Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a Spanish photographer working for the Associated Press news agency in Gaza on Tuesday, keeping him captive nearly 13 hours before pressure from Palestinian officials secured his release.

Emilio Morenatti, 37, was grabbed by four gunmen as he was heading out of his apartment to an AP car on Tuesday morning. He was put in another vehicle and driven away, the AP said.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Morenatti's release came after pressure from officials of the Hamas-led government and President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the rival Fatah movement.

"The photographer was released by the kidnappers and handed over to Palestinian security agents," Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, a spokesman for Abbas' Fatah movement, said.

Senior security officials brought Morenatti to Abbas' office in Gaza, witnesses said.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said "the identity of the kidnappers is known and they will be prosecuted", according to an official in Haniyeh's office. Haniyeh thanked his interior minister and security service for their efforts.

Morenatti, from Jerez, Spain, has been working for the news agency in Jerusalem since 2005, the AP said.

Earlier, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the abduction "does not serve the Palestinian cause".

"We stress that these actions are against our culture and against our religion," Barhoum said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said he had contacted Abbas and other Palestinian officials over the kidnapping.

Previous kidnappings of foreigners have usually ended after a few hours, or at most a few days, of captivity.

Earlier this month, unknown gunmen kidnapped a US student volunteer in the West Bank and released him hours later.

Two journalists working for the US Fox News channel were abducted in the Gaza Strip in August. They were held by militants for two weeks before being freed.

- REUTERS