Steve Centanni update: “This one may be a bit different”

posted at 11:58 am on August 15, 2006 by Allahpundit
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Kidnapping reporters isn’t the best way to sustain Pallywood, which is why they’re usually pretty quick to let them go. Fox News isn’t known for its indulgence of Palestinian propaganda, though, so Centanni and his cameraman might be in for the long haul:

“It is not clear who kidnapped them or what their demands are. In the past, kidnappings have gone on with western journalists in that area. Usually the captors demanding some sort of job or trying to make a political statement. But there are concerns this one may be a bit different, considering three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped triggered this entire Middle East conflict. And there are concerns that these Fox News journalists could be held for a lot longer and that those demands may be much different than they have been in the past.”

New Zealand, where cameraman Olaf Wiig is from, has sent a diplomatic team to Gaza. Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh are planning to meet with Fox News’s Jerusalem bureau chief, although it’s not clear yet how much they can do:

An investigator in the case, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize the investigation, said suspicions were focusing on a renegade group from an established Palestinian militant organization, but he declined to give further details.

WND says it’s the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades: “Sources in the … Brigades told WND ‘independent Palestinian gunmen’ affiliated with their group carried out the kidnapping ‘completely on their own.’” A leader of the group says he thinks they’re being held to make a point about Isro-American “aggression” in Lebanon, but that might very well be his own opportunistic spin.

Another jihadi told WND not to be surprised if other groups are in on it.

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