Deadline Passes in Kidnapping of Fox Journalists

By: With a deadline looming in the case of two kidnapped Fox News journalists, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that he hoped the crisis would be resolved "in the coming hours."

The journalists, correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, of Washington, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, were seized from their TV van Aug. 14 in Gaza City. Their captors demanded the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the U.S. by midnight Saturday (5 p.m. EDT), in exchange for freeing the Fox journalists.

The kidnappers, a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades, did not say what they would do to the men if the deadline passed without their demands being met. It is not clear whether the kidnappers are local militants with ties to the rival Hamas or Fatah movements, or foreign extremists sneaked into Gaza from outside.

"We hope that this issue is going to be over in the coming hours," Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said in a statement. "There are promises that the journalists will not be harmed. I hope that this case is going to be ended and solved in a way that reflects that the Palestinians respect their guests."

He did not elaborate.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said authorities were working to win the journalists' release but were not negotiating with the kidnappers.

On Wednesday, the kidnappers released video of the hostages for the first time. Wearing track suits, Centanni and Wiig were seen sitting cross-legged and barefoot on the floor of a dark apartment. They said they were being treated well.

In a statement accompanying the video, the kidnappers said a 72-hour countdown for the release of Muslim prisoners began at midnight Wednesday, meaning the deadline would be midnight Saturday. However, there appeared to be some confusion among Palestinian officials about the deadline. Interior Ministry officials said they believed the deadline passed at noon Saturday.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for the journalists' release.