New York Times Reporter Escapes Gaza Kidnap Bid

[Freddie Stubbs]

By REUTERS

Published: May 20, 2004


Filed at 7:36 a.m. ET

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - A New York Times correspondent narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt by Palestinians while covering a massive Israeli army raid into Gaza's Rafah refugee camp, the newspaper said on Thursday.

James Bennet, bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories, said he was speaking on a cellphone in front of a Rafah hospital on Wednesday when a Palestinian he did not know came up, smiled and offered his hand, saying ``Welcome.''

When Bennet shook his hand, the man and another Palestinian grabbed him and tried to thrust him into an old Mercedes car that pulled up with its back door open, recalling kidnappings of foreigners by Muslim militants in wartime Beirut in the 1980s.

An abduction was averted only by police at the hospital, who ran to Bennet's assistance in response to his struggle and cries. The men then jumped in the car and sped away, the correspondent said in his dispatch in Thursday's Times.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast-journalist.html

[CulturalNomad]

1. Wow - he actually went to Rafah!

Would have thought that the IDF briefings would have been enough.