Kidnapped Fox journalists in Gaza appear on video

GAZA, Aug 23 (Reuters) Two Fox journalists kidnapped in the Gaza Strip last week said they were in ''fairly good health'' and appealed for help to secure their freedom, a videotape released by their captors today showed.

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 United States release ''Muslim prisoners'' within 72 hours.

The United States said it would not make ''concessions to terrorists''. The militant group did not say what would happen if the demand was ignored.

Fox News Channel correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were shown sitting cross-legged on a blanket on a floor. They sat against a black backdrop with no markings. No militants could be seen.

''We're alive and well, in fairly good health,'' Centanni said, speaking in a clear and calm voice.

Centanni said they had been treated well.

The video bore many hallmarks of tapes of captives issued by militants in Iraq, and the rhetoric of the group also mirrored the heavily religious language used by Iraqi insurgents.

Centanni and Wiig were abducted by masked gunmen in Gaza City on Aug. 14 as they were working on a story.

''Release what you have, and we will release what we have,'' the ''Holy Jihad Brigades'' said in a statement. ''If you implement our conditions we will implement our promise, otherwise you will have to wait.'' The United States called for the quick release of the two but vowed not to bow to demands.

''It is the position of the U.S. government that we do not make concessions to terrorists,'' said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem.

HOPES John Moody, Fox's senior vice president, news editorial, said he was encouraged the journalists appeared to be alive and well.

''We trust that the abductors understand they are responsible for Steve and Olaf's welfare and safe return. We hope for their immediate release,'' he said in a statement.

Until today's statement from the militant group, which contained verses from the Koran, no one had claimed responsibility for the abduction, which is now the longest-lasting in Gaza for more than a year.

Previous kidnappings -- there have been at least seven involving foreigners since August 2005, when Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza after 38 years of occupation -- have usually ended after a few hours, or at most a few days, of captivity.

''Both of them are such gentle souls,'' said Fox News colleague Jennifer Griffin from Jerusalem. ''They were there because they wanted to broadcast the Palestinian perspective around the world.'' Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the militant Islamist group Hamas have called for the release of the captives. Palestinian forces are scouring Gaza for them.

Hamas said it was unaware of the ''Holy Jihad Brigades''.

''We reject and condemn the kidnapping of foreigners and journalists and we urge the kidnappers to immediately free them,'' Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

British and American reporters have been warned not to go to Gaza or to take extra precautions because of credible threats of additional kidnappings, Western diplomats said this week.

Palestinian militant groups that have briefly kidnapped foreigners in the past have usually done so over local grievances such as demands for jobs or the release of family members from Palestinian jails.

REUTERS VJ BST0138