Alan Johnston
BBC News Middle East correspondent Alan Johnston was kidnapped by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on March 12, 2007 and was held captive for 114 days. Johnston was not harmed by his captors until shortly before his release when they roughed him up "a bit."
Fast Facts
- Born: May 17, 1962 in Tanzania
- Joined the BBC in 1991
- Acted as BBC's correspondent in Uzbekistan from 1993 to 1995
- BBC Kabul correspondent from 1997 to 1998
- Embedded in Gaza from April 2004 until his capture
- A BBC News online petition calling for Johnston's release acquired over 200,000 signatures
Captivity Timeline
- March 12, 2007: Johnston is kidnapped
- March 26, 2007: Johnston becomes the longest held foreign captor in Gaza in two years
- April 15, 2007: Unconfirmed reports surfaced that Johnston was murdered
- May 8, 2007: A video tape from Johnston's kidnappers was sent to Al Jazeera
- July 3, 2007: Johnston was released to Hamas officials
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