Abbas forces free Hamas official held for 19 days
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NABLUS, West Bank  - Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas released a top Hamas official on Saturday after holding him in custody for 19 days, sources from Hamas and the security forces said.
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JERUSALEM, July 4 -- An ebullient and relieved Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent set free Wednesday after 114 days as a captive in the Gaza Strip, suggested that the turning point leading to his release was Hamas's takeover of the strip.
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Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a top security official in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in a fresh challenge to President Yasser Arafat's rule amid a wave of unrest.
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The ruling Hamas movement said on Friday an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian gunmen in June would not be freed unless the Jewish state simultaneously released long-serving Palestinian prisoners and faction leaders.
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Israel released the top Hamas leader in the West Bank from prison on Thursday after he finished a 28-month sentence for being a member of an outlawed organization.
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A senior member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has been released from an Israeli prison after completing a two-year sentence.
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A Philippine marine general and 19 others were released Sunday from a Muslim rebel camp where they had been held for two days by guerrillas demanding more benefits under a 1996 peace accord, officials said.
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BAGHDAD: An Iranian diplomat was freed on Monday after a 55-day hostage ordeal at the hands of the same militant group which is holding two French newsmen, as 19 people were killed in fresh Iraq violence.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - An Israeli military court   on Wednesday ordered the release of Palestinian Deputy Prime   Minister Naser al-Shaer, a top Hamas official, after more than   a month in detention, his lawyer said.
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Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in the Gaza Strip since March, was handed over by his Islamist captors to ruling Hamas officials on Wednesday, Palestinian sources close to negotiations for his release said.
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JERUSALEM -- Hamas officials in Gaza yesterday arrested a spokesman for the shadowy Army of Islam, the group that claims to have kidnapped the BBC's Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston, on March 12.
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Israeli forces have detained a senior leader of Hamas&#39;s military wing in the West Bank on during a night-time raid on his hideout, witnesses say.
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Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip seized on Monday a leading member of the al Qaeda-inspired Army of Islam, the group which says it is holding a BBC correspondent hostage.
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NABLUS, West Bank  - Israeli forces seized a Palestinian minister and other officials on Thursday in a crackdown on Hamas, which defied a call by President Mahmoud Abbas to stop firing rockets at Israel.
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Palestinian gunmen freed a top security  official on Thursday hours after abducting him in the Gaza  Strip in a fresh challenge to President Yasser Arafat's rule  amid a wave of unrest, witnesses said.
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TULKARM, West Bank - Israeli forces detained a senior leader of Hamasâs military wing in the West Bank on Saturday during a nighttime raid on his hideout, witnesses said.
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Hamas gunmen on Friday burst into the home of a top Fatah official in Gaza and arrested him, relatives said. He was the most senior Fatah politician to be detained since Hamas forces overtook the territory in June.