Group issues demands for BBC reporter

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - A little-known Islamist group claimed responsibility in an audio recording on Wednesday for abducting the BBC's Gaza correspondent, issuing demands immediately rebuffed by the Palestinian government.

As evidence that it is holding correspondent Alan Johnston, the group posted a photo of his BBC identification card on the Internet.

The posting appeared to be the first tangible evidence that Johnston, who disappeared on March 12 while driving his car in the Gaza Strip, had been kidnapped.

Johnston has been held captive longer than any of the previous foreign journalists who have been seized, and subsequently released, by gunmen in Gaza.

"We demand that Britain free our prisoners, particularly the honourable Sheikh Abu Qatada al Filistini," said a speaker on the audio recording, posted on the Internet by a group that calls itself the "Jaysh al Islam", or Army of Islam.

The authenticity of the tape could not immediately be verified.

The BBC had no comment on the group's demands while describing the claim of responsibility as encouraging.

"We of course welcome any sign that Alan may be alive and well. We profoundly hope that today's news may be a sign that Alan will soon be safely released," Mark Byford, the BBC's deputy director-general, said in a statement.