NABLUS, West Bank, July 21 (AFP) - A Palestinian local official was freed on Wednesday evening after being briefly abducted by gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the militant group and the man's family said.
Fadel Asshuli, who is in charge of village affairs in the Nablus area, was freed several hours after being kidnapped in this northern West Bank town.
Asshuli had been driving from home when masked gunmen forced him to stop and to board their vehicle.
Al-Aqsa, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, had earlier said it was behind the abduction.
The abduction followed an unprecedented spate of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip on Friday which prompted prime minister Ahmed Qorei to submit his resignation and a revamp of the security services.