Jul 4, 2007

GAZA, July 4 (Reuters) - BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston was freed on Wednesday after a fatwa, or edict, from one of the enclave's most senior Muslim clerics and no ransom was paid, said an official who helped negotiate the release.

Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees militant group, told Reuters Johnston's captors agreed to listen to the senior cleric, who then issued the edict calling for the journalist's unconditional release.

He said the al Qaeda-inspired Army of Islam, which seized the Briton in March, and the Kassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas Islamists who run Gaza, had agreed in advance to accept the judgment of the cleric, Suleiman al-Daya.

"The Army of Islam and the Kassam Brigades agreed to refer to one of Gaza's best religious authorities to seek a ruling on the fate of Alan Johnston," said Abu Mujahed, who was involved in intensive negotiations over the past few days.

"The sheikh issued the fatwa to both sides urging the release of the British journalist. The two sides agreed and Alan Johnston was released without conditions," he said, adding no ransom had been paid.

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar confirmed the captors released Johnston without any conditions.

"There were no conditions at all ... We are running a very strict administration here and we will not allow anybody to commit violations," said Zahar.

» Have your say on this and other issues in our forum pages