Gunmen abduct Spanish aid workerin Gaza strip

PALESTINIAN gunmen abducted a Spanish aid worker in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the latest in a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, security officials and colleagues of the man said.

The hostage was identified by colleagues as Roberto Vila, a 34-year-old aid worker with the Cooperation Assembly for Peace, a Spanish charity group.

Celine Gagne, a fellow worker, said she and Vila were on their way out of Khan Younis after visiting a project for handicapped children when three or four men carrying Kalashnikov rifles stopped them.