JERUSALEM – A previously unknown Palestinian terrorist group kidnapped a young American teacher in the West Bank but released him yesterday unharmed.
Michael Phillips of New Orleans was turned over to Palestinian security headquarters in Nablus a day after he disappeared.
“I’m fine, and I’m happy that this incident is over,” Phillips said.
Earlier, a group calling itself Ansar Assuna said it had seized Phillips and would trade him for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
“Our demands are the immediate release of all imprisoned women and minors,” a masked member of the group told reporters.
The group faxed a copy of Phillips’ U.S. passport, Israeli entry visa and student identification card to news agencies and Palestinian security officials to prove their claim of responsibility.
Phillips, 24, was working as an English teacher in the West Bank town of Nablus for Project Hope, a local charity catering to underprivileged Palestinian children.
Project Hope manager Samah Atout said she received a call saying Phillips had been abducted but did not elaborate.
Even the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a terrorist group allied with the Fatah political faction, said it was trying to help find Phillips.
“We have no hand in this, and if it is true that he was kidnapped, it will harm the Palestinian people,” Alaa Sanakreh of the brigade said
The abduction occurred several hours after Israeli forces entered Nablus and shot dead a wanted Al Aqsa member.
An American exchange student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem was kidnapped by gunman in Nablus in June but quickly released.
With Post Wire Services