BBC man 'proof of life' tape shown

Story Highlights

• New video shows first pictures of kidnapped BBC man Alan Johnston
• Johnston says he has been treated well by captors
• In second video "Army of Islam" group demands release radical cleric

Adjust font size:

(CNN) -- Saying he was being treated well, BBC reporter Alan Johnston appeared for the first time since his abduction in March in a video tape issued by his captors that was delivered to a Palestinian news agency in Gaza on Friday.

"My captors have treated me very well. They've fed me well. There's been no violence toward me at all and I'm in good health," Johnston said in the video from The Army of Islam that was given to the Ramattan news agency.

Also Friday, CNN was told that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya plans to meet later in the day with heads of all Palestinian security agencies, and urge them to redouble their efforts to find Johnston.

It was not known when the video, which goes on to detail complaints about Palestinian suffering as well as U.S. and British military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, was recorded. (Watch Johnston speak about his captivity )

"In three years in the Palestinian territories, I witnessed the huge suffering of the Palestinian people and my message is that this suffering is continuing and it is unacceptable," Johnston said, wearing a red sweater and sitting in front of a dark background.

The BBC in a statement said, "we are studying the video very carefully."

"We have been working very closely with Alan's family for the past 81 days. This is a highly distressing time for them and for his friends and his colleagues. We repeat our call for his immediate release," BBC representative Rebecca Beehre said.

The British Foreign Office on Friday condemned the release of the video and asked his captors to release him.

"We condemn the release of videos like this, which can only add to the distress of Alan Johnston's family and friends," a statement said. "They have not seen Alan for over eleven weeks. Those holding Alan should release him. We remain very much in contact with Alan's family and the BBC. We are in close contact with the Palestinian authorities."

Earlier in the day the foreign office said it was "investigating the contents of this video very carefully and its implications for Alan Johnston's safe return."

Last month, a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Tawad and Jihad Brigades faxed a statement to news agencies saying Johnston had been killed. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, however, said Palestinian intelligence indicated he was still alive.

Johnston, 45, was kidnapped at gunpoint March 12 in Gaza.

It is the second video issued by the group calling itself The Army of Islam.

On May 8, Johnston's purported kidnappers posted a video calling on the British government to free radical cleric Abu Qatada -- known as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe" -- in exchange for the journalist. Qatada is a radical Muslim cleric from Jordan.

British ministers have described Qatada as an "inspiration" for terrorists such as Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker behind the 9/11 attacks.

Qatada -- also known by his real name, Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, and as Omar Abu Omar -- has denied the accusations. He has been convicted in Jordan in connection with two 1998 bombings.

Qatada has been held under British anti-terrorism laws since late 2005 in the Full Sutton High Security Prison north of London.

Earlier this month, officials with Britain's Foreign Office said the ministry had been holding talks in London with the Qatada's attorney to secure the release of Johnston.

At the time, Foreign Office officials said Qatada had offered to make an appeal to Johnston's captors to let him go, according to the Foreign Office's media relations group.

The video showed a picture of Johnston's BBC identification card, and its audio track asks Britain to free "our hostages, especially Abu Qatada, the Palestinian ... free our hostages or else we will treat yours similarly with no exceptions."

Johnston joined the BBC World Service in 1991 and has spent eight of the last 16 years as a correspondent, including periods in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, the BBC said.

Since 2004, 15 journalists, including Johnston, have been abducted by gunmen in Gaza, the Committee to Protect Journalists says. All the others were released unharmed, usually within days of their kidnapping. Johnston has been held in captivity longer than any other journalist abducted in Gaza.