Alan Johnston, the kidnapped BBC journalist, was released last night after intense negotiations as Hamas fighters closed in around the compound of the Army of Islam gang that had held him for 114 days.

Amidst chaotic scenes outside the house of Ismail Haniya, the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, 50 to 60 gunmen holding rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s accompanied Johnston down the street. Johnston appeared to be in good health, and he told The Times that he was OK.

Abu Subhi, a senior Hamas Executive Force commander, told The Times that Mr Johnston was released at 3:30am local time. He was taken for a shave and a shower before he met Ismael Haniya, the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, in Gaza.

The sudden release came after Hamas had tightened the siege around the Army of Islam compound, and the Army of Islam agreed to release ten Hamas captives who had been detained the day before.

Blockade drains life from Gaza

The movement of goods into Gaza had been intermittent at best since Hamas won Palestinian elections early last year

BACKGROUND

• Israel continues Gaza blitz as 310 dead

• Q&A: Hamas and Gaza

• 97 days and counting for BBC's man in Gaza

• Now war is with the enemy within

• The little girl trapped by a quirk of war

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Last minute negotiations almost stumbled over Army of Isla’s demands to be able to hold onto their weapons. The kidnappers feared that other Gaza families with whom they are locked into blodod feuds would take the opportunirty top seek revenge.

Hamas refused their demands and told them that if Johnston was released full talks on conditions could be held afterwards. Hamas fighters were pulling away from the Army of Islam compound last night, firing their guns in celebration.

One of the fighters involved in the siege told The Times: "After they had been surrounded and we had closed in on them, they decided to release. They surrendered with no conditions. We gave them security if they handed him over alive and unharmed and they handed over their weapons"

Earlier in the day, hundreds of Hamas fighters threw a tight cordon around the area of Gaza City where Johnston was being held to try to force the Army of Islam to relinquish its hostage.

Amid mounting concern over the safety of Johnston, shooting broke out at a checkpoint manned by Hamas when two men from the clan behind the kidnapping ran through the cordon to break into the besieged area.Abu Subhi, a member of Executive Force, the Hamas police, said. “We have decided to cut the electricity and water and there are roadblocks all around. Anyone who comes out, we arrest them.”

Hamas fighters knelt in firing positions on street corners whilst pick-up trucks full of armed and uniformed enforcers sped through the streets, sirens wailing. A few hundred feet down the road, a sandbagged checkpoint marked the outer perimeter of the kidnappers’ realm.

An entire brigade of Executive Force gunmen surrounded the area, checking identity papers and arresting anyone associated with the self-styled Army of Islam. At least five people were seized.

Members of the Army of Islam said that they had planted car bombs around the area to detonate if Hamas forces stormed the heavily built up area of two-storey concrete apartment blocks.

Hamas had deployed snipers on rooftops and had local civilians from the Sabra area of Gaza City, where Johnston was held, spying on the movements of the kidnapper gang.

Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12, when he was seen being bundled into a car. He has since appeared in two videos released by his captors online, the last of which showed him wearing what appeared to be an explosive belt, which he said his kidnappers would "detonated if there's any attempt to storm this area."

In the 114 days of his captivity Muslim leaders, journalists and politicians have united to condemn his captors, and more than 180,000 people have signed an online petition calling for his release.

The Army of Islam, which claims ties to al Qaeda, is estimated to number between 150 and 200 fighters and is led by Mumtaz Dagmoush, a local militant who has previously served in several other Gaza militias.

The noose was thrown around the Sabra area, just south of the city centre, a day after Hamas arrested the group’s spiritual leader, Kattab al-Maqdisi, who many here believe was the brains behind the operation. “Mumtaz is in deep trouble now,” said a Hamas fighter, Abu Hamsa, 26, who had served in the same militant militia unit, the Salahedin Brigades, with Dagmoush before the kidnapper split away to join the Army of Islam. “Kattab, who told him what to do and gave him fatwas is captured. He won’t know how to think for himself. Kattab is his brains. He can’t make a decision on his own. He is totally ignorant.” He gave a warning that Dagmoush was, however, unlikely to surrender. “He is a fierce person and very stubborn. I don’t think he’ll give himself up.”

Abu Subhi, the Hamas commander, said that he had received information that the gang was intent on kidnapping more foreign journalists to bolster its bargaining position. He said that it was in a weak position, with its men either holed up in Sabra or hiding elsewhere in the city.

114 days

March 12 Johnston seen being bundled into a car in Gaza City

May 9 Army of Islam, a hitherto little-known Islamist group linked to Gaza's Dagmoush clan, claim responsibility for his kidnapping, releasing a picture of Johnston's identity card

June 1 First video of Johnston, showing him wearing a red sweater. The video demands the release of Muslim prisoners, including the cleric Abu Qatada, held in Britain

June 15 Hamas fighters take control of Gaza, pushing out secular Fatah forces

June 19 Hamas threatens to release Johnston by force if he is not given up

June 20 100 days since abduction.

June 24 Short video released of Johnston apparently wearing a suicide belt. He calls on Hamas and the British government "not to resort to tactics of force in an effort to end this" and says the Army of Islam "are ready to turn the hideout into what they describe as a death zone"

Source: Agencies

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