Palestinian police 'may use force' to free British hostages

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-1963660,00.html Palestinian police have today threatened to use force to free a British woman and her parents who have been taken hostage in the troubled region. Seven masked gunmen bundled Kate Burton, 25, an aid worker, and her parents, Hugh and Win, into a white Mercedes saloon while they were sightseeing in the southern border town of Rafah. General Ala Husni, the Palestinian police chief, told a press conference this morning: "We will get them. If we have to use force we will. "Until now we do not know who was behind this act. There have been no negotiations with the kidnappers as we do not know who they are and they have not declared themselves... These are enemies of the Palestinian people." Palestinian security forces have put up roadblocks and checked cars across the south of Gaza in a desperate effort to locate the hostages. But more than 24 hours after the family was seized there was still no claim of responsibility or ransom demand. That left anxious British diplomats conceding that they were no further on in resolving the case. In a statement released by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Burton family said: "We are naturally deeply concerned about our parents and sister. Kate is a warm and loving person, and has been working as a volunteer in Gaza for the past year, trying to do what she can to help the situation there." The absence of information is alarming, since claims of responsibility and demands have been quick to follow most of the kidnappings of foreign aid staff that have beset Gaza in the past year. They have almost always ended peacefully within a few hours. The puzzling seizure of Ms Burton, who for the past three months had been working for a Palestinian human rights organisation, led aid groups to protest outside the parliament building in Gaza City. Other developments have raised tension in Gaza. This morning 100 Palestinian policemen angry over the killing of a fellow police officer stormed the Gaza-Egypt crossing at Rafah, firing in the air and forcing European monitors to shut the border and flee. The policemen are demanding the execution of a gunman who killed one of their colleagues yesterday in a family feud, which broke out perilously close to the Gaza City residence of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader. The officers say no Palestinian official will be allowed to leave Gaza until their demands are met. Yesterday a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near the West Bank town of Tulkarem and, to prevent rocket attacks, Israeli artillery shelled an area in northern Gaza that had been declared a "no-go" zone. The Burton family had spent Christmas in Bethlehem. After returning to Gaza three days ago, their car was stopped in Rafah just before 4pm on Wednesday by the gunmen.