HOWZAT

“We are very pleased to see Alan and to hear him say that he is not being ill-treated although it is clearly distressing for us to see him in these circumstances,” they said. “We’re grateful to everyone who’s been supporting us and we hope that he’ll be released very soon.”

The Foreign Office confirmed that it is studying the video, which has not been dated, and is continuing to stay in close contact with Johnston’s family, the BBC and the Palestinian authorities.

“We condemn the release of a video like this which can only add to the distress of Alan Johnston’s family and friends,” said a Foreign Office statement. “They have not seen Alan for over 11 weeks. Those holding Alan should release him.”

The Ramattan news agency said it received the recording from the Army of Islam, a shadowy Palestinian group believed to have been holding Johnston for more than two months.

The Army of Islam is a radical splinter group led by one of Gaza's most ruthless criminal clans, the Dagmoush family. The organisation first surfaced in June 2006 when it claimed responsibility for killing two Israeli soldiers.

Johnston, 45, from Argyllshire in Scotland, was kidnapped as he drove home from his office in Gaza City on March 12. He was the last remaining Western reporter permanently based in Gaza and he had entered the last few weeks of his three-year posting.

The Army of Islam first posted a video in May in which they claimed to have kidnapped the BBC journalist and showed his identity card.

The video demanded the release of Islamic prisoners held in the UK. "We demand that Britain free our prisoners, particularly the honourable Sheikh Abu Qatada al-Filistini," a speaker on the video said. "We have not forgotten our prisoners in other infidel countries to whom we say: ’Free our prisoners or we will retaliate in the same manner without discriminating'."

After Abu Qatada was named in the video, the Foreign Office failed in attempts to get the Jordanian national to make an appeal for Johnston’s release.

The radical Islamic cleric was described by a Spanish judge as Osama bin Laden’s "spiritual ambassador in Europe". The British Government accuses him of raising funds for extremist groups and offering "spiritual advice and religious legitimacy" to militants planning attacks.

He is suspected of close links to al-Qaeda and was labelled a “significant international terrorist” by the UK Government, who have tried to extradite him to Jordan. He is awaiting the outcome of his appeal against deportation at Long Lartin high security prison in Worcestershire.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister-in-waiting, and Tony Blair both called for Johnston’s immediate release today.

The Chancellor said the video released this morning was being investigated and the Government was doing everything in its power to help.

“Our thoughts are with him and his family this morning,” he said. “I call on those people who are holding Mr Johnston to release him as a matter of urgency. They are not serving their cause by detaining him in this unfair and unjust way.”

Since Johnston went missing, his parents have campaigned vociferously on his behalf. A month after their son’s kidnap Graham and Margaret Johnston said: “Our son has lived and worked among the people of Gaza for the last three years to bring their story to the outside world and we ask everyone of them to help end this ordeal."

Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister, reiterated calls for an end to Johnston’s ordeal today. “The journalist Alan Johnston should be protected and not harmed. I am asking the kidnappers to release him immediately because holding him does not help Islam or the Palestinian cause,” he said.

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