For nearly 3 years Alan Johnston, who was released yesterday, told the world about the plight of the 1.3 million Palestinians living in the slums of the Gaza Strip. On March 12 there were only a few weeks to go before his assignment ended.

But that evening he disappeared as he drove his rented car from the BBC's office in Gaza City to his flat overlooking the sea. The softly spoken, 44-year-old Scot knew the dangers he faced. A year previously he had sent a From Our Own Correspondent dispatch, saying that "the kidnap craze has thrown up moments of black humor". The gunmen, he said, "are not always crack division militants, more Keystone kidnappers".

And in a remark which may been haunting him these past 14 weeks, he added: "What you fear most is a bungled rescue attempt. Winkling out a hostage safely is not easy - even for the world's best trained police - and Gaza's finest could not really be described in this way."