Centanni and Wiig Released

This is real good news. Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig have been released by their captors, the Islamic terror group Holy Jihad Brigades. They'd been held for nearly two weeks, and the terror group had demanded that the US release all Muslims in its custody.

The pair, who appeared to be in good health, then met with Palestinian officials, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The three men sat in a circle of chairs at the hotel, before the journalists held a news conference, then left and crossed into Israel.

''I want to thank everybody. I am happy to be here. I hope that this never scares a single journalist away from coming to Gaza to cover the story because the Palestinian people are very beautiful and kind hearted,'' Centanni told reporters. ''The world needs to know more about them. Don't be discouraged.''

Wiig also said he was worried that the kidnapping would scare off reporters.

''My biggest concern really is that as a result of what happened to us foreign journalists will be discouraged from coming to tell the story and that would be a great tragedy for the people of Palestine,'' Wiig said. ''You guys need us on the streets, and you need people to be aware of the story.''

Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, thanked Palestinian officials and Fox News for their efforts in getting the men released. The men refused to take questions, then traveled to the Erez and left Gaza.

In a phone call with Fox News, Centanni said that during his capture, he was held at times face down in a dark garage, tied up in painful positions, and that he and Wiig were forced at gunpoint to make statements, including that they had converted to Islam.

Ah, a window into the minds of the Islamic terror groups - submit to Islam or face the consequences.

The question remains whether Hamas and Fatah will be able to capitalize on the release of these two journalists. I'm betting that they'll certainly try to do so, using their assistance as a means to trying to get Europeans and US diplomats to ease their stance on Hamas as a terror group.

UPDATE:
Was a ransom paid? Picked up by Charles at LGF, Debka is reporting that a six-figure ransom was paid. If true, that's a real bad idea. All ransoms do is encourage further kidnappings, knowing full well that they will most likely result in payments, which can fund additional kidnapping and terror operations. That's one of the reasons that kidnappings are such big business in Iraq.

If no ransoms are paid, it lessens the likelyhood that the terrorists will resort to this tactic.

Hot Air has the video of the so called conversion of Centanni. Once again, it brings home the notion of submission to Islam or death.

While the release of Centanni and Wiig is something to be applauded, there are questions over their release, including the payment of ransoms and the culpability of Hamas as they may have had a hand in the kidnappings.

Others blogging: The Political Pit Bull and Michelle Malkin.

On a related subject, it appears that the Israelis are ready to do a prisoner swap with Hizbullah to secure the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. A similar deal is in the works for the release of Gilad Shalit between Israel and Hamas. Again, this is a tremendously bad idea. All it does is encourage the Islamic terror groups to take other Israelis hostage in order to gain concessions with Israel that they would never get otherwise. It undermines Israeli security and highlights how the Israeli government has failed to protect the long term Israeli interests. Ed Morrissey has the details.

UPDATE:
The Israeli government says that it denies Nasrallah's claims that Israel is in talks to discuss a prisoner swap.

Senior government officials said Nasrallah's comments point to tension within the leadership of the guerillas and unequivocally rejected his claims.

"We are not speaking with Hizbullah. Israel and the international community are dealing with the Lebanese government … the Lebanese government is responsible for the fate of the soldiers," senior officials said.

Egyptian daily al-Ahram published a report on Sunday saying that a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah is in advanced stages.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday discussed with German officials the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped by Hizbullah on July 25.

Technorati: wiig, centanni, holy jihad brigade, hamas, fatah, gaza, journalists, kidnapped, terrorism.