Joy as Gaza hostages freed [+ video]

Olaf Wigg (left) and Steve Centanni read statements announcing they had converted to Islam in a videotape released by their captors today. Pictures / Reuters

GAZA - New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, and his American colleague Steve Centanni were released by their kidnappers last night after nearly two weeks in captivity.

The two Fox News journalists were released shortly after noon yesterday (9pm NZ time) and dropped off at a Gaza City hotel, after being forced at gunpoint to say in a videotape they had converted to Islam.

Wiig's wife, BBC World journalist Anita McNaught, spoke last night to the Herald from Gaza City, saying it was "indescribably fantastic" to be reunited with her husband.

"They are out and I'm here with Olaf and he's here with me. We are phoning family at the moment ... they are out, they are safe and they are with us in Gaza. It's all fine."

Television footage last night showed the two men hugging colleagues at Gaza City's Beach Hotel before running up the stairs.

Later, speaking to the media, Wiig said he was worried the kidnapping would scare off reporters.

"My biggest concern really is that as a result of what happened to us, foreign journalists will be discouraged from coming to tell the story and that would be a great tragedy for the people of Palestine," he said.

"You guys need us on the streets, and you need people to be aware of the story."

McNaught thanked Palestinian officials and Fox News for their efforts in getting the pair released.

The men refused to take questions and then travelled to the Erez crossing into Israel to leave Gaza.

In an emotional phone call to his family last night, Olaf Wiig told father, the Rev Roger Wiig, that he had feared for his life, particularly in the last few days of captivity.

Rev Wiig, and Olaf's twin brother Sven, held a brief press conference in Wellington last night where they spoke of their relief.

Rev Wiig said: "Olaf's first comment was he was sorry he had to put us through that. He did not want us to experience the turmoil."

Sven added that Olaf had sounded "well and surprisingly relaxed".

Rev Wiig said the family had had their hopes raised numerous times over the past weeks and were delighted it was over. Olaf wanted to get out of Gaza as soon as possible, and the family were looking forward to a reunion.

Centanni told the Fox Channel that he and Wiig were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint.

"I have the highest respect for Islam ... but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns and we didn't know what the hell was going on."

Describing the kidnap, he said: "They sat us down and tied our hands behind our backs really tightly with these plastic ties and I still have sore wrists ... but that was just the beginning of our torment that night."

He said the captors covered his and Olaf's faces.

"We were put in a ... van and drove about 10 minutes until we got to the next stop and heard a big garage door rattling open and we pulled inside and everything was pitch black for us anyway ... we were roughly taken out of the car and taken in."

He said they were forced to lie face down in the dirt.

"Olaf was in the same room with me because we were talking to each other. Our shoulders were wrenched back so they were very painful ... and if we tried to get up they would eventually force us back down."

He said the kidnappers made several requests of the men.

"They requested written statements about what I'd done in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Kashmir. Why we were there and what were we doing there."

In the videotape released earlier by the militants, Centanni and Wiig were shown separately sitting cross-legged, reading statements announcing that they had converted to Islam. At times in the video they were wearing long Muslim robes.

"I changed my name to Khaled. I have embraced Islam and say the word Allah," Centanni said.

In the video, Wiig called on leaders of the West to stop "hiding behind the 'I don't negotiate with terrorists' myth".

He also read out an Islamic blessing in Arabic, his fingers following the written text.

"The people of Gaza have suffered for many years in what is effectively a prison camp," he said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said the release would not have been possible without the support and hard work of the Palestinian authorities.

"This brings to an end an agonising period for Olaf Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, and the Wiig family, along with the Centanni family. I am sure all New Zealanders wish them all a very happy reunion after this traumatic event."

The journalists had been seized in Gaza City on August 14 by a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades.

However, senior Palestinian security officials said yesterday the name was a front for local militants, and that Palestinian authorities had known the identity of the kidnappers from the start.

AP said Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also squashed speculation that the kidnappers had ties to foreign groups. "The kidnappers have no link to al Qaeda or any other organisation or faction," Haniyeh said.

"Al Qaeda as an organisation does not exist in the Gaza Strip."

Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said there had been no "direct negotiations" to secure the men's release, but there were "certain communications with various Palestinian sides".