Christian hostages set free in West Bank

Three Western church workers, who were kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Friday night, were sheltering yesterday in the home of Ghassan Shakaa, a former mayor of Nablus, after being released.

Three Western church workers, who were kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Friday night, were sheltering yesterday in the home of Ghassan Shakaa, a former mayor of Nablus, after being released.

The three, all men in their twenties, came to Nablus three weeks ago from Britain, Ireland and the United States to work for the Holy Bible Society. The group of volunteers, who declined to give their names, also included five young women, who were spared by the kidnappers.

Mr Shakaa told The Independent on Sunday: "They do not want to speak with the media because they want to stay and to continue serving the community. They told me they were treated well. No one beat them or questioned them. Yasser Arafat phoned and asked me to provide protection for them."

Nasser Goma'a, a commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Nablus, condemned the kidnapping, which had originally been attributed to fellow members of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement. "We are the ones who found them," he said.

Three French aid workers were snatched, then released, in similar circumstances in Gaza last month.

Tayseer Nasrallah, acting head of the Palestinians' national refugee committee, blamed the Palestinian Authority. "What the PA has sown, it is now reaping: chaos," he said. "We live in a state of collapse. The only person who is responsible for this chaos is Arafat. His men know who the kidnappers are, but they don't punish them."

A spokesman for the British Consulate-General in Jeru-salem said they were aware of the incident and were following it up. He drew attention to a Foreign Office advisory warning against all but essential travel to the West Bank.

The abduction coincided with separate arson attacks by dissident Al-Aqsa gunmen on the headquarters of the Palestinian intelligence service and the governor's office in Jenin. Zakaria Zubeidi, their leader, said: "We burned the two buildings to send a message to President Arafat that we should get our rights. We want the security forces to back us and not stand in our way."