GAZA CITY, Sept 28 (AFP) - An Arab Israeli working for CNN television who had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip was released Tuesday, a Palestinian security official told AFP.
Palestinian police chief General Saeb al-Ajez confirmed to AFP that CNN producer Riad Ali had been turned over to him and that he was a free man.
Ali was abducted late Monday by a group of men armed with assault rifles and revolvers who stopped the taxi he was in while passing through Gaza City`s Al-Rimal neighbourhood.
An assistant producer with the network, Ali also worked as a "fixer" and translator for CNN.
No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and Ajez did not identify who had placed the call to the police.
Speaking on CNN shortly after Ali`s release, his colleague Ben Wedeman said the network had received a video tape in which the kidnapping appeared to have been carried out by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs` Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat`s Fatah movement.
"We received a tape an hour ago that was shot of (Ali). They said he was taken in to custody by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs` Brigades," Wedeman said.
Earlier, Yasser Arafat`s office said the Palestinian leader had ordered his security services to help secure Ali`s release.
It was the first time a journalist had been kidnapped in the Palestinian territories.