Gaza kidnappers release foreign aid workers

Palestinian kidnappers today released two foreign aid workers, one British and one Austrian, after snatching them in a Gaza refugee camp, Palestinian security officials said.

The two were en route to Gaza City, said Tawfiq Abu Hussa, spokesman for the Palestinian interior ministry.

The abduction had taken place overnight near the Bureij camp. The two men, who were working on a water development project in Gaza, were snatched from their car by masked gunmen, witnesses said.

British and Austrian officials confirmed the two men were missing. Austrian diplomats were in Gaza to deal with the incident.

Palestinian police have been negotiating with the kidnappers, who were apparently from a local gang using the hostages as bargaining chips to try to get some of their members released from prison, according to an Austrian official.

Palestinian security forces in unusually large numbers were seen throughout central Gaza today.