GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas on Monday arrested the spokesman of a shadowy group holding a British Broadcasting Corp. reporter, gaining what could be a valuable bargaining chip in the monthslong effort to secure the correspondent's release.
Hamas has demanded that the Army of Islam, led by a violent Gaza clan, free Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped on a Gaza City street on March 12.
But the group, whose formerly close relations with Hamas have soured, has demanded that Britain first release a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al Qaida. It has threatened to kill Johnston if Hamas tried to free him by force.
The Army of Islam threatened to release what it said were damaging documents about Hamas if its spokesman, Abu Khatab al-Maqdisi, remained in custody. The group also kidnapped 10 members of Hamas, the Islamic group whose violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last month has not empowered it enough to secure Johnston's release.
Al-Maqdisi was arrested while trying to fire on members of a Hamas-allied security force, said Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, who denied any link between al-Maqdisi's arrest and efforts to free Johnston.
But a later statement from Hamas said several people involved in Johnston's kidnapping were arrested "after the failure of peaceful efforts to release him." Two other Army of Islam members were arrested last week.
The Army of Islam said in a statement that Al-Maqdisi was leaving early morning prayers.
Johnston has been held far longer than any Western journalist abducted in Gaza. Hamas has said it knows where to find him, but has not raided the hideout for fear he will come to harm.
Last week, the Army of Islam posted a video message from Johnston on a militant Web site in which he said he was dressed in an explosive belt that his captors would detonate if there was an attempt to free him.
The same group was involved in the capture of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized more than a year ago in a raid on an Israeli army post near Gaza.
