Italian activist found dead in Gaza after kidnapping

[News_Editor]

Italian activist found dead in Gaza after kidnapping

2011-04-15 21:08:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

GAZA CITY (BNO NEWS) -- An Italian activist on Friday was found dead in Gaza after being abducted on Thursday by members of the Salafi extremism group, the non-governmental organization International Solidarity Movement (ISM) informed.

"The International Solidarity Movement is shocked and deeply saddened by the killing of our friend and colleague Vittorio Arrigoni. He was an inspiring activist and generous soul," said ISM in its website.

Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and human rights defender, was found in a residence in Mashrou Amer area, northwest Gaza. Hamas security forces stormed the abandoned house after a suspect confessed the abduction.

Forensic experts said that the Italian activist was killed several hours earlier. He was last seen alive in a video blindfolded and bruised while a text demanded Hamas to release Salafist prisoners, including Abu Al-Walid Al-Mqdesi, a senior leader of the Gaza-based group.

"This murder is all the more deplorable, as Vittorio Arrigoni has been helping the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip for many years. I urge everyone in the Gaza Strip to stop this violence," said Catherine Ashton, the Vice-President of the European Commission.

The Italian activist was granted honorary citizenship for his work on promoting the cause of the Palestinian people. ISM added that he was "more Palestinian that those who murdered him."

The Hamas Interior Ministry said the man was killed "in an awful way" shortly after he was abducted on Thursday. Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the barbaric murder calling it a "cowardly and groundless act of violence committed by extremists who care nothing for the value of human life."

Arrigoni worked for the Palestinian-led ISM for almost 10 years. The Palestinian-led movement is committed to resisting the Israeli apartheid in Palestine by using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.

In recent years, Hamas security forces have been in frequent conflict with Salafi Jihadists, ultra-radical Islamists in Gaza who said that in comparison "Hamas is Islamism Lite." There are currently five major Salafist groups in Gaza.

In August 2009, a group of Salafists staged a battle in Rafah, southern Gaza. The radicals took over a mosque and declared an Islamic caliphate in the city. Hamas regained control of the area after a deadly battle in which 22 people were killed.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-15