Palestinian Minister of Interior Nasser Yousef instructed the Palestinian security forces to act to find and release the French journalist kidnapped in the Gaza Strip Sunday night, Palestine News Network (PNN) reported.
Mohammad Wadouhi, French national, originally from Algiers, works for the French TV channel three as an audio technician, was kidnapped by some gunmen with a civilian car, in Gaza city around midnight.
The Union of Palestinian Journalists condemned the kidnapping of the journalist and demanded his captives to immediately release him.
‘This is a cowardly, irresponsible behavior which contradicts with the Arab traditions in dealing with guests,’ a statement by the union said.
The union also said that that those who kidnapped the journalist must be punished asserting that protecting journalists should be a priority.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has earlier instructed all the security forces to provide protection for the international workers in all Palestinian areas, after some kidnapping incidents that took place in the Gaza Strip in the last couple of months.
On the other hand, the security coordination meeting which was held late Sunday night between Yousef and the Israeli Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz was described as a failure.
Palestinian sources said that the two-hour-meeting did not result in any new information regarding the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements.
