GAZA CITY, 14 March 2007 — The outgoing Hamas government said yesterday it had identified the kidnappers of a BBC journalist and hopes to free him soon.

BBC television correspondent Alan Johnston was abducted Monday from his car by four masked gunmen in Gaza City. The abduction was the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreign journalists in the Gaza Strip. Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said the kidnapping hurt the Palestinian cause.

“The kidnappers have no nationalism, they want a cheap reward,” he said. “They are well-known, and we hope he (Johnston) will be found today.” Hamad spoke at a protest in front of the BBC office, where 30 Palestinian reporters called for the journalist’s quick release. The protesters held up signs, and some taped their mouths shut as they criticized the government for not immediately condemning the kidnapping. From his West Bank powerbase in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered security chiefs to intensify their search for Johnston, who was one of few Western journalists still based in the Gaza Strip.

“The president ordered the heads of the security services to step up their hunt to find the journalist,” said Abbas’ chief of staff, Rafiq Al-Husseini.

“We are searching everywhere. We hope no harm will come to him and that the affair will be ended as soon as possible,” a Palestinian security source said.

Johnston, originally from Scotland, had been reporting from Gaza for the past three years. In a statement yesterday, the BBC said it still had no confirmation of his whereabouts.

“We are working closely with the Palestinian authorities and others to establish the facts surrounding the situation,” the statement read. “We are keeping Alan’s family fully informed of developments.” Simon Wilson, the BBC Middle East bureau editor, traveled from Jerusalem to Gaza where he met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other government members to discuss the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, negotiations over a Palestinian unity government have become bogged down over who will serve as interior minister with control over security services.

President Abbas of Fatah was scheduled to resume talks with Prime Minister Haniyeh of Hamas in the Gaza Strip later in the day. Last week both sides said they were on the verge of announcing an agreement. But a source close to the talks said ahead of yesterday’s meeting that the Interior Ministry dispute had become a “real obstacle” to a final deal.

— With input from agencies