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.

“They asked me to stay behind,” she said. The gunmen then forced Vila into their car and sped away.

The officials said the man was forced into a yellow Skoda at the edge of the town.

Palestinian gunmen have kidnapped a series of foreign journalists and aid workers in Gaza over the past two years, usually pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released, and none of the hostages have been seriously harmed.

Last week, Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti, a 37-year-old Spaniard, was kidnapped in Gaza City and released unharmed about 16 hours later.