Hamas Claims Credit After Securing Johnston's Freedom

Hamas sought yesterday to extract maximum political leverage from its role in securing Alan Johnston's release, projecting itself as a force for law and order on the turbulent streets of Gaza. The BBC journalist was handed over to Hamas's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, at 3am yesterday by his captors, the Dogmush clan - a criminal gang that has formed its own jihadist organisation, the Army of Islam.

The exact nature of the deal struck between Hamas and the Dogmush group was unclear yesterday, but Mr Johnston's release was almost certainly the result of intense pressure on the kidnappers. Their compound was surrounded by Hamas gunmen, clan members were seized, and threats of a raid were delivered.

The Army of Islam vowed it would blow Mr Johnston up if attacked, but diplomatic observers said yesterday the group appeared to have relented in return for some sort of guarantee of their safety.

It is also thought they were allowed to keep their guns, which would be considered by Hamas as "arms of the Palestinian resistance" rather than merely a family arsenal. The deal appears to have been sealed by a fatwa, or edict, issued by a local Muslim cleric.

After the BBC journalist had spent about three hours at Mr Haniyeh's home in Gaza's Beach refugee camp, dining on a breakfast of beans and felafel, the Hamas leader and deposed Palestinian prime minister brought him to the doorway and in front of the cameras, raised his hand aloft. Then, squashed in the middle of a scrum of Hamas gunmen, Johnston was put in a car and driven to Mr Haniyeh's office a couple of kilometers away. There he gave a press conference, flanked by Mr Haniyeh and Mahmoud Zahar, the Hamas foreign minister. At one point, Mr Haniyeh interrupted the questions by presenting Johnston with a scarf in Palestinian colours, a copper plaque of the Dome of the Rock and a Palestinian lapel badge.

Mr Haniyeh said Hamas's role "confirms it is serious in imposing security and stability and maintaining law and order in this very dear part of our homeland".

Mr Zahar said that Hamas security forces had tracked Mr Johnston as he was moved from house to house and were ready at any moment to rescue him. He added darkly that Hamas was "in control" of the families of the kidnappers as an added means of imposing pressure on them.

Mr Zahar said the release would usher in a new era in the Gaza Strip, which has been under exclusively Hamas control since mid-June. "Every kidnapping, every illegal behaviour, we will fight with all our force, the force of law, the force of moral principles," he said. "Every Palestinian and every foreigner will be secure and safe, regardless of their political beliefs." Ayman Taha, a top Hamas negotiator, said the group had bowed to the wishes of the British government in not using force to free Johnston and added: "We hope that this will lead to better relations with the British government in future."

In London, Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the new foreign secretary, acknowledged Hamas's role in securing Johnston's release. Mr Miliband said that Hamas leaders had "denounced the hostage takers and demanded Alan's release. I fully acknowledge the crucial role they have played in securing this happy outcome." However, British officials said that gratitude for Johnston's release was unlikely to change the position towards Hamas held by the diplomatic Quartet of powers - the US, the UN, the European Union and Russia. There are, however, contacts between British and Hamas officials over humanitarian issues, and diplomats from the British consulate went to Mr Haniyeh's office to collect Mr Johnston and take him back to Jerusalem.

Speaking outside the family home in Argyll, Johnston's father, Graham Johnston, said: "It's a wonderful morning ... we got the phone call late last night from the BBC and we're absolutely overjoyed.

"It's been 114 days of a living nightmare and just to hear his voice," said Mr Johnston. "He telephoned us ... and all he said was: 'Hello, dad' and I: 'Hello, son, I hear you're all right.' He said: 'I'm 100%'. The phone was cut so that's all we've had from him so far - but we've seen him on the box and it's just incredible; it's been a long 114 days." He added: "He is going to cringe when he realizes all the pictures and stuff up all over the place, he's really going to cringe at that, he's a pretty self-effacing sort of lad." The Johnstons had been due to see Mr Miliband in London yesterday to talk about their son's plight, but the meeting was far more celebratory than expected. Mr Miliband invited them to watch his press conference from the television in his office.

The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, said: "I can't express how incredibly grateful we feel for the wider support from the British public, the public around the world, journalists, Palestinian journalists. It's been an amazing show of support."

A close shave

After the joyous telephone call to his parents, Alan Johnston's first request, according to executives at the BBC, was for a grilled steak, some shaving foam and a razor.

It is not known what the steak turned out like. Presumably it could have tasted wonderful after 16 weeks on a hostage diet.

But the impact of the razor was apparent. Like the procession of shackled hostages who over the years have been released overjoyed but unkempt, Johnston did not need a mirror to know that he sported a "kidnapped look" - a shaggy horseshoe of hair, curly over the ears, suggestive of a Russian mathematician or a French cabinet minister. His captors had let him have a radio but not an electric razor.

Within hours of release his usual profile was back - now world famous after a million posters and stickers - and he was reveling in "the most basic things that freedom allows, not least to get a haircut".

Julian Borger