US won't bow to militants holding Fox journalists

ERUSALEM, Aug 23 (Reuters) The United States government today called for the immediate release of two Fox journalists being held by a militant group in Gaza, but added that the US would not make any concessions in return.

''We hope the kidnappers will release Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig at the earliest opportunity. It is the position of the US government that we do not make concessions to terrorists,'' Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the US consulate in Jerusalem, said.

A previously unknown militant group, the ''Holy Jihad Brigades'', earlier claimed responsibility for the kidnapping nine days ago in the Palestinian coastal strip and demanded the US release ''Muslim prisoners'' within 72 hours.

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