Kidnappers threaten to 'slaughter' BBC reporter

A Palestinian militant group holding BBC reporter Alan Johnston says there is no deal to free the Briton abducted in Gaza three months ago and says he will only be released if its demands were met.

"Freeing this detainee has not been part of any deal with any faction or organisation. What appears on television screens and through the media here and there is untrue," a man identified as a spokesman for the Army of Islam in Gaza told Al Jazeera television.

"If they do not meet our demands there will be no release for that detainee and if things become more difficult ... then we would seek God's satisfaction by slaughtering this journalist," the spokesman said, identified as Abu Khatab.

The British Foreign Office says such statements only caused distress to Mr Johnston's family and friends.

The BBC says it is aware of the statement and other reports from Gaza on Sunday.

The latest threats came as Israel closed off Gaza and its 1.5 million residents after it was overrun by fighters from Hamas, an Islamist movement sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.

The army also sent in troops to the north of the territory in what Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephrain Sneh said was a "preventive" action.

Meanwhile two missiles, apparently fired from Lebanon, hit the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

An official of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last week, said earlier in Tehran that Mr Johnston would be released within hours.

But as the clock ticked by another senior Hamas member counselled caution.

In Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, who Hamas says is Palestinian prime minister despite President Mahmoud Abbas swearing in a new premier, visited the house of a Palestinian engineer who was kidnapped by a clan for nearly a year and then was released by Hamas.

"I hope there will be similar news about the abducted journalist Alan Johnston. We are acting effectively and in a serious manner," he said.

"I hope this file will be closed and that Alan can go back to his family safe and sound."

In a June 1 video, the group holding Mr Johnston repeated its demand for Britain to free Muslim prisoners, particularly the Islamist cleric Abu Qatada.

"There are negotiations (for [Mr] Johnston's release)," Abu Khatab said, masked and surrounded by gunmen.

"... But we are interested in the main point, which is this detainee will not be released until they meet these demands, or what could be agreed upon (the release of) other detainees other than (Abu) Qatada."

Mr Johnston, 45, the only Western correspondent based full-time in Gaza, was seized on March 12.

None of several foreigners seized in Gaza in recent years has been harmed.

None has been held as long as Mr Johnston, with most freed within days.

- Reuters/AFP