Gaza gunmen kidnap foreigners after Israel raids jail

GAZA, Mar 14 (Reuters) Palestinian gunmen today kidnapped at least six foreigners in Gaza on Tuesday, releasing two of them shortly afterwards, in response to Israel's storming of a West Bank jail where a senior militant is being held.

Gunmen also kidnapped an American teacher in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Two Australians, seized from a school in northern Gaza, were freed by their abductors near a police station, witnesses said.

Earlier, a Swiss staffer at the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was taken by gunmen and later called the ICRC from captivity to say he was unharmed, the organisation's chief spokeswoman said in Geneva, naming him as Julien Grosclaude.

Militants kidnapped two French nationals and a South Korean from the Dira hotel in Gaza, where one gunman was killed in a confrontation with police, medics and witnesses said.

The French Foreign Ministry said the two French citizens work for Medecins du Monde, a non-governmental agency.

''Our consulate in Jerusalem has been working to obtain their liberation since finding out about it. We are in contact with representatives of the Palestinian Authority and of course with Medecins du Monde in Jerusalem as well as in Paris,'' a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Gunmen kidnapped an American teacher in Jenin. The American, who identified himself as Douglas Johnson, told a Reuters television cameraman who filmed him in the custody of his captors that he taught at a university in the city.

Palestinian security sources and witnesses said the militants involved in the kidnappings belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israeli forces blasted their way into a prison in the West Bank town of Jericho to try to seize PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat and five other militants from the group.

They have been held under foreign supervision at the facility for the past four years, accused by Israel of involvement in the killing an Israeli cabinet minister in 2001.

Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was prepared to free the men. US and British officials said the monitors were pulled out of the prison because of the failure of the Palestinians to carry out security improvements.

REUTERS PG KN2158