The British government said today that it was urgently seeking information about reports that a previously unknown group in Gaza had killed Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent who was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12.
The group, calling itself the Tawhid and Jihad Brigades, first sent an e-mail message with the claim to a journalist at the Palestinian Ramattan news agency in Gaza on Sunday. The message said that the group held the British government, the Palestinian government and the Palestinian presidency responsible for the death, and said that its demands for the release of Palestinian prisoners inside Israel had not been met.
The BBC said it was aware of the reports and deeply concerned, but emphasized that there was no independent verification of the claim, which it was treating as rumor.