A British and an Austrian national were released Wednesday evening after being captured late Tuesday and held captive by a Palestinian family in the central Gaza Strip refugee of el- Bureij, a Palestinian Interior Ministry official said. Following negotiations between the Palestinian police and several government officials, both men - Volkar Mitterhammer from Austria and Mike Rabicano from the Brittan, were released to Fatah officials in the Gaza strip and escorted to safety. At press conference at the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Gaza offices, Ahmed Helles told reporters Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas oversaw the negotiations which lead the release of the two men, according to DPA. The two were kidnapped after the vehicle in which they were travelling was stopped at gunpoint in the northern region of the Gaza Strip.
