GAZA (Reuters) - Two Fox journalists kidnapped in the Gaza Strip last week said they were in "fairly good health" and appealed for help to secure their freedom, a videotape released on Wednesday showed.
A previously unknown militant group, the "Holy Jihad Brigades," earlier claimed responsibility for the kidnapping nine days ago in the Palestinian coastal strip and demanded the United States release "Muslim prisoners" within 72 hours.
The United States said it would not make "concessions to terrorists." The militant group did not say what would happen if the demand was ignored.
Fox News Channel correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were shown sitting on a blanket on a floor. They sat against a black backdrop with no markings. No militants could be seen.
"We're alive and well, in fairly good health," Centanni said, speaking in a clear and calm voice.
Centanni said they had been treated well.
Wiig added: "I know my family will already be doing this, but if you could apply any political pressure ... both here in Gaza and the West Bank that would be much appreciated by both Steve and myself."
The video bore many hallmarks of tapes of captives issued by militants in Iraq, and the rhetoric of the group also mirrored the heavily religious language used by Iraqi insurgents
http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...Art-R2-Today-3
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