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Freed BBC Reporter Recounts Long Ordeal in Gaza
Cheering staff members at the BBC's offices in central London celebrate the release of correspondent Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped March 12 in Gaza.
(By Lefteris Pitarakis -- Associated Press)
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The pressure prompted his captors to arrive with a briefcase containing an explosive vest, which Johnston was forced to wear in a video released June 25, in which he warned that he would be killed if there was an attempt to rescue him by force.
He said that making the two videos released during his captivity -- the first was a political message criticizing British and American policy in the Middle East -- was a "grim" experience. Each was scripted by kidnappers "who hold all the cards," he said.
The vest might not have been rigged to explode, he said, but the briefcase remained an ominous fixture, next to the television set in the guard's room. The group also brought in a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
"Whether they would have allowed me to live or die, I'm just glad I'm standing here today and didn't have to find out," Johnston said.
The process of his release began just after 3 a.m. Wednesday when several gunmen he had not previously seen burst into his room and told him to get dressed. He suspected "bad news."
But as he began an "appalling ride" through a series of Hamas checkpoints opened for his delivery, he began to have slim hope that his ordeal was ending. The men driving him were furious and frightened, and two of them hit him several times in the head.
He stepped out of the car to more gunmen, but also some familiar, friendly faces from the news media.
"You just keep living," Johnston said.
