GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The wife of a FOX News cameraman kidnapped in Gaza made a tearful plea Friday for information about the whereabouts of her husband and a fellow FOX journalist.
Cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, and American reporter Steve Centanni, 60, were taken Monday from their TV van near the Palestinian security services headquarters.
Foreigners were abducted by Palestinian militants in the past, usually in an attempt to settle personal scores, but released quickly. Palestinian security officials said they were concerned for the FOX journalists because no other foreigners have been held this long and all major militant groups in Gaza have denied involvement.
"If somebody knows any information, can you please tell us because I want him home so much," Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, a freelance journalist, said in a televised appeal Friday.
"He and his colleague, Steve, don't deserve this. They are good men, they are good men and they should be allowed to come home. Please let him come home. Please," McNaught said, trying throughout the appeal to maintain her composure, holding back tears and keeping her hands in tight fists.
McNaught arrived in Gaza shortly after she got word of her husband's kidnapping. Most of her days are spent in the FOX News bureau, under heavy police protection. Staff there describe her as composed and strong, but under tremendous stress.
Mustafa Wafi, a senior Palestinian security official, said the kidnapping was unusual because no demands have been made. "This is the first time kidnappers haven't identified themselves or their demands," Wafi said. "Usually kidnappers announce who they are, sometimes as soon as they kidnap."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Thursday with top security officials to discuss the kidnapping, one official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. He declined to say whether the security services knew where the men were being held.
In January, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a British aid worker and her parents, holding them for three days.
In the past two years, kidnappers have seized at least 26 foreigners, including nine members of the media, either to protest Israeli or American policies, use them as leverage with the Palestinian Authority for jobs and money or to win the release family members from prison. Most of those kidnapped were released after a few hours.
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