Thread: 3 US WOMEN SEIZED IN WEST BANK/RELEASED

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlene ... rss&rpc=22 -
Three U.S. women seized in West Bank: source
Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:59am ET


By Atef Sa'ad

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Three American women were seized in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, near the city of Nablus, a senior Palestinian security source told Reuters.

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for any kidnapping.

"We received a tip that three American women were abducted. We are checking," the source said, adding no further details were immediately available.


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If the women were abducted by militants it would be the first abduction of foreigners since January 23 when a French diplomat and two bodyguards were held for a few hours.

At least 18 foreigners have been abducted by Palestinians in the past year, mostly in the Gaza Strip. They were all later released, within hours or days.

Security has fallen apart in Gaza and the West Bank amid a bitter power struggle between the ruling Hamas militant group and the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas.

More than 90 Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting since December. The fighting has subsided since the groups reached a preliminary agreement to form a unity government in talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.


© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

What were these American citizens doing in the West Bank with all the crap going on over there? Do people refuse to listen to what is going on or what? Why would women put theirselves in this position? I know they have the right to go anywhere they want to but for crying out loud use a little common sense please!

I hear you NittyGritty. Like the hikers climbing Mt. Hood during storm season. Why are these people putting themselves in harms way.

I will still pray for their safe return, but I understand where your coming form NittyGritty.

CCUSA, believe me, I will be praying for their safe return also, never meant to say any different, I just don't understand people sometimes.

Some people have no common sense.

They have been released. Good news!



http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=54348 -


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FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
3 Americans kidnapped in West Bank
Women reportedly released after abduction by 'disgruntled' Palestinian

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Posted: February 20, 2007
12:11 p.m. Eastern


By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

TEL AVIV – Three American women were kidnapped today in the West Bank and later released, according to terror sources and Palestinian security officials speaking to WND.

The Palestinian security officials said the three Americans were taken by unknown assailants while they were taking pictures in the center of Nablus, a densely-populated Palestinian-controlled city in the northern West Bank.

The officials could not immediately identify the Americans but said they were women and human rights activists.

(Story continues below)


A senior leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party, told WND the hostages have been released.

The leader, who also serves on Abbas' security forces claimed the women were kidnapped by a "disgruntled" Palestinian Authority worker who demanded medical treatment and better wages.

The terror leader previously said he was negotiating with the kidnappers for release of the hostages.

He said the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was not involved in the kidnapping, but other sources in the Brigades said they had information one of their members was involved.

Together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Brigades is responsible for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including a bombing last month in the southern resort town of Eilat that killed three and an attack in Tel Aviv in April 2006, that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and eight Israelis.

Nablus is a known stronghold for the Brigades, but other groups, including Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also operate openly in the city.

A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces told WND the Israeli army was aware of the kidnapping report and was looking into it.

The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv did not immediately return a request for comment.