Hamas official says BBC reporter to be freed Sunday

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A Hamas official said on Sunday BBC reporter Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza three months ago, would be released within hours, but as the clock ticked by another senior member of the Islamist group counseled caution.

The optimistic statement by Abu Osameh al-Mo'ti, representative of the Palestinian group in Iran, came after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip last week in a surge of factional fighting with rival group Fatah.

A Hamas official in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, was more cautious, saying that while intensive efforts were being made for Johnston's release, it could not be predicted in terms of hours.

In Tehran, Mo'ti said Hamas was in negotiations with those holding Johnston but did not specify how he knew the British journalist would be freed.

He suggested Hamas knew both who the abductors were and where Johnston was being held, adding the 45-year-old Briton was in good health.

"The BBC journalist will be released within the next hours, today," he told reporters, speaking through an interpreter.

"We are negotiating to solve the issue peacefully," he said. "We asked them to release him without any conditions."

A BBC spokeswoman in London said there was no "firm confirmation" about Johnston's release. "We are aware of the reports, but have not received any firm confirmation of Alan's situation. We continue to work with everyone involved to try to effect Alan's safe release," she said.

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

His abductors, a little-known group called the Army of Islam, issued a video of him on June 1 in which he said he was being treated well, although it was not known when it was made.

Hamas said on Friday it was in an advanced stage of negotiations over Johnston's release.

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

None of several foreigners seized in Gaza in recent years has been harmed. None has been held as long as Johnston, with most freed within days.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Sophie Walker in London)