Israel Matzav

Yesterday's reporter kidanpping

As I reported yesterday, al-AP photographer Emilio Morenatti was kidnapped yesterday by some of the 'Palestinian' terrorists with whom he consorts. The Washington Post reports this morning that Morenatti was released last night unharmed.

He said the kidnappers held him in a small room, where he was kept for about four hours during which he was visited by masked men. Later he was put in a car dressed as a woman and taken to another location.

"They put a bag on my head and they dressed me up as a woman, as a woman in a long veil," the photographer added.

Morenatti said he was blindfolded for much of the time, and that his captors spoke only Arabic, which he doesn't speak.

"I didn't know at any moment what they were doing," he said. "They moved me but nobody explained anything to me. It was very confusing."

The photographer said he was held in complete darkness for hours. In the second house where he was held, Morenatti said he heard the sounds of a family. He said he was given one meal of cheese and lunch meat early in the day and a portion of fruit later.

Morenatti did not know his captors. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office said in a statement that the identity of the kidnappers was known and they "would be pursued."

Fellow blogger Solomonia has an interesting theory about Morenatti:

Rumor has it (and it is just that), that eight hours before the kidnapping a group of "militants" came to the kidnapped photographer while he was eating with another journalist and they demanded that he delete some photos of them he took earlier. Some physical contact took place but they left. He may have deleted some photos at that time.

I'd love to see some proof of that one.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:00 PM