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| Growing concern for BBC reporter | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The BBC has said it is increasingly concerned about correspondent Alan Johnston, one week after his disappearance in the Gaza Strip. | The BBC has said it is increasingly concerned about correspondent Alan Johnston, one week after his disappearance in the Gaza Strip. |
| Middle East bureau chief Simon Wilson said he was disappointed there was no firm news, adding it was time to redouble efforts to find him. | |
| It now seemed certain that the reporter had been abducted, he added. | It now seemed certain that the reporter had been abducted, he added. |
| On Saturday Palestinian journalists demonstrated outside parliament in Gaza City in support of the correspondent. | On Saturday Palestinian journalists demonstrated outside parliament in Gaza City in support of the correspondent. |
| Palestinian security officials say Mr Johnston was kidnapped from his car by masked gunmen on Monday. | Palestinian security officials say Mr Johnston was kidnapped from his car by masked gunmen on Monday. |
| There has been a series of abductions of Westerners in the Gaza Strip where law and order has deteriorated. | |
| All were eventually released unharmed. | |
| 'Disappointing' | |
| The BBC says it has no official information about who may be holding him or where he is being kept. | The BBC says it has no official information about who may be holding him or where he is being kept. |
| Mr Wilson said: "Over the past week we have worked intensively with the authorities here in Gaza and elsewhere to try to locate Alan and we continue to receive assurances that everything possible is being done. | |
| "However, it is disappointing that, after seven days, we still have no firm word either about his whereabouts or about his condition. | |
| "So at this stage we call on everyone with influence on this situation and we say to them it is time to redouble our efforts, all of us, now that Alan has been missing for more than one week." | |
| Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya are among those who have called for Mr Johnston's release. | Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya are among those who have called for Mr Johnston's release. |
| He has been the BBC's correspondent in the Gaza Strip for the past three years - and the only foreign journalist from a major media organisation based in Gaza. | |
| The BBC describes him as a high experienced and respected reporter. | |
| Mr Johnston, 44, was born in Tanzania and educated in Scotland. He joined the BBC World Service in 1991 and has spent eight of the last 16 years as a correspondent, including periods in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. | |
| His Gaza posting was due to come to an end at the end of next month. |