Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Earlier, Palestinian "gunmen" kidnapped a French cameraman:
Reuters: Palestinian gunmen kidnap France TV journalist
Mohamed Ouathi, a soundman for France 3 Television, was walking back to his hotel in Gaza City with his television crew when three unmasked men armed with rifles threatened him, pulled him into their vehicle and drove away.
The circumstances were unclear and no group claimed responsibility immediately.
"We tried to intervene, to resist, but they threatened us very aggressively and dragged off Mohamed," Gwenaelle Lenoir, one of the crew members, told France 3.
Contrary to past abductions of journalists in Gaza, a frequent scene of lawlessness between rival armed groups, Ouathi was not freed hours after the kidnapping, angering his TV station and France, which demanded his immediate release...
So France is now threatening the PA that they better do something:
JPost: France threatens to stop aid to PA
PA officials said the threat was delivered to the PA on behalf of French President Jacques Chirac, who is "extremely disturbed" by the abduction.
In a related development, three Palestinian journalists were attacked on Monday night by unidentified assailants north of Khan Yunis...
...More than 80 non-governmental organizations on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Ouathi. They also urged the PA to arrest the kidnappers and bring them to trial.
But I thought we couldn't expect the PA to control the terror gangs? Imagine that, holding the PA responsible for law and order, and actually threatening consequences if they don't perform. Why didn't someone think of that earlier (he asked rhetorically)?
In Gaza? Where the hell is the damned IDF to protect the frogs? And where will it be around this time next month?
Heh, well the IDF certainly isn't in Gaza City. Things are going to be very interesting for quite some time now.