Video Post Shows Captured BBC Reporter

This undated frame grab image taken from a video posted on a Web site that has been used by militant groups in the past, and made available Sunday June 24, 2007 by IntelCenter, an American private terrorist threat analysis company, purports to show kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston wearing an apparent explosives belt of the type suicide bombers use. The video was made by the Army of Islam, a shadowy group with apparent al-Qaida links that has claimed responsibility for snatching Johnston, a correspondent with the British Broadcasting Corp. (AP Photo.IntelCenter) (AP)

In the video, Johnston was standing and shaking his head as he spoke. Light entered the room from above, and an Arabic translation was provided on the screen. Nobody else appears in the video.

"I do appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government not, not to, resort to the tactics of force in an effort to end this," he says in a jittery tone.

"I'd ask the BBC and anyone in Britain who wishes me well to support me in that appeal," he says. "It seems the answer is to return to negotiations, which I am told are very close to achieving a deal."

A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office condemned the release of the video, saying it adds to the distress of Johnston's family, according to the BBC report.

It was not known when the video was made. Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas referred to it in a two-hour speech Sunday in Gaza City, but it was not posted to the Web site until early Monday.

The first time Johnston was seen after his abduction was in a video posted on another Web site on June 1. In that tape, the journalist appeared calm and said his captors had treated him well. He also criticized Britain for its role in Israel's creation and blamed British and American troops for the spiraling violence in Iraq.

The Army of Islam is dominated by the Doghmush family, a powerful Gaza clan with its own large militia. Although the group participated in a Hamas-backed operation to kidnap Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit last year, its relations with the militant Muslim group have since soured.

Johnston had reported from Gaza since 2005 and was the only foreign journalist to remain based there after Palestinian infighting erupted last year. There has been a series of kidnappings of foreign journalists in Gaza in the past two years, but Johnston's captivity has been the longest.