Egyptian diplomat freed in Gaza

Mr Musali was seized close to the Egyptian mission in Gaza

An Egyptian diplomat has been released by his captors in the Gaza Strip, more than 24 hours after he was kidnapped, officials say.

Hussam al-Musali, Egypt's military attache, was stopped on his way to work on Thursday and forced into a vehicle.

"He's released and unharmed," an Egyptian official in Gaza was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped by gunmen in Gaza but Mr Musali was the first diplomat.

A previously unknown Palestinian militant group, the al-Ahrar Brigades group, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping earlier on Friday.

It said Mr Musali would only be freed if all Palestinians being held in Egyptian jails were released within 48 hours.

Kidnapping condemned

But leading militant groups condemned the kidnapping as a "cowardly act" that threatened Palestinian relations with an important neighbour.

A spokesman for Hamas, the victorious party in last month's parliamentary elections, expressed the group's "extreme indignation at this crime".

The Palestinian Authority interior ministry said the kidnappers would "be punished according to the law and strong measures will be taken to prevent similar acts from recurring".

And a statement posted on a website affiliated to Islamic Jihad denounced the kidnapping, and called for an "end to lawlessness and the kidnapping of foreigners and Arab friends".

Mr Musali was taken in daylight close to the Egyptian mission in Gaza City after two gunmen shot out his vehicle's tyres.

While foreigners are frequent kidnap targets in Gaza, they tend to be held for a short time to press the authorities for money, jobs or prisoner releases.