Hamas seeks political gain from hostage's release - Faction touts freeing of Briton as evidence that it's a credible political and diplomatic partner

Hamas seeks political gain from hostage's release - Faction touts freeing of Briton as evidence that it's a credible political and diplomatic partner
By Joel Greenberg
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published July 5, 2007

JERUSALEM -- The leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip literally dined out Wednesday on the release of British Broadcasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston, sharing breakfast with him in front of television cameras shortly after he was freed following nearly four months as a hostage.

Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Palestinian prime minister from Hamas, draped Johnston with a sash bearing the Palestinian colors, presented him a silver plaque and affixed a Palestinian flag pin on his lapel.

Under international boycott and isolated in the Gaza Strip, where it seized control last month in fighting with the rival Fatah faction, Hamas is trying hard to reap a political windfall from its success in freeing Johnston after 114 days in captivity.

Leaders and spokesmen of the Islamic group reached out to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader, and to other nations, asserting that they intend to restore law and order to chaotic Gaza and that they are a credible partner for politics and diplomacy.

Haniyeh said Johnston's release showed "that the government is serious about imposing security, stability and order in this part of our homeland."

Reaching out to Fatah

He appealed to "the brothers in Ramallah," a reference to Abbas and his supporters in Fatah, to renew a political dialogue with Hamas, whose partnership with Fatah in a unity government unraveled in bitter factional fighting.

Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader who played a key role in the effort to free Johnston, said the release of the journalist had inaugurated a new era.

"We will not allow illegal actions against anyone," he said. "We are going to implement the law and we are not going to allow anyone to violate the security of the Palestinian people. We are going to put an end to the security problem."

Hamas has made a significant effort to win hearts and minds in Gaza by presenting itself as an authority capable of taming the rampant clan and factional violence that has plagued the coastal territory, most recently while Fatah and Hamas wrangled over control of the security forces.

After taking over Gaza, Hamas scored an initial success with the release of Salim Sabra, an engineer who had been held hostage in a personal feud for more than a year.

The release of Johnston was engineered after Hamas ratcheted up the pressure on the shadowy group that was holding him, the Army of Islam, arresting several of its members and surrounding its compound with scores of gunmen who manned checkpoints and took up positions on rooftops.

In the last phase of protracted negotiations, the kidnappers were warned that Hamas could use force, and a Muslim cleric was brought in to tell them that their actions contradicted Islam, said Ghazi Hamad, the spokesman for the Hamas-led government in Gaza.

Johnston told reporters that his kidnappers lost their confidence after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.

"That changed the atmosphere, completely," he said. "Hamas has a huge law-and-order agenda, and they want to stop the kidnappings. The kidnappers were nervous from that point, and that's when they made the video in which I put on this explosive vest." Johnston was seen in a video released last week warning against the use of force.

"Suddenly they were worried that Hamas had them in their sights," Johnston added later at a news conference. "I'm pretty sure that if Hamas hadn't come in and stuck the heat on in a big way I'd still be in that room."

Battling terrorist label

Hamad asserted that the release of Johnston showed that Hamas was different from the Al Qaeda-inspired group that had held the BBC journalist.

"The international community and especially the European Union should understand that Hamas is not a terrorist organization," Hamad said. "Hamas is working against the occupation here. It is not a radical organization fighting against the Christians or Europe. What happened to Alan Johnston should change their mind."

But Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the EU and Israel, did not appear to win new credibility among its opponents.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aide to Abbas, dismissed the release of Johnston as a "melodrama," a deal struck between groups who were former allies.

"They want to present Hamas as a reasonable partner, but we don't buy it," Abed Rabbo said. "You will never be accepted as someone who respects international law by releasing a journalist when at the same time you violate your own national law and legitimacy. They should accept Palestinian law and put an end to their coup" in Gaza.

A U.S. official said Hamas "still has a number of obligations to meet before it can be a partner that can be counted on and worked with." Hamas has rejected international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by Palestinian accords with Israel.

Internally, Hamas still has to contend with the challenge posed by the Army of Islam, which is dominated by the powerful, heavily armed Doghmush clan.

Johnston said that in a conversation with the leader of the group on the first night of his captivity, he learned that it had a "jihadi agenda" and considered him as "a prisoner in the war between Muslims and non-Muslims."

"They were not so interested in Israel-Palestine," Johnston said. "They were interested in getting a knife into Britain in some way."

The kidnappers had demanded the release of militant Islamic prisoners held in Britain and Jordan, including a radical cleric with ties to Al Qaeda.

Captivity was "always frightening," Johnston said, "because I didn't know how it was going to end.

"It's an amazing thing to be free."

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jogreenberg@tribune.com