GAZA CITY, July 4: BBC journalist Alan Johnston was freed on Wednesday after 16 weeks held hostage by Palestinian extremists in Gaza, looking pale and drawn but delighted that his “terrifying” ordeal was over.

The Briton, by far the longest-held Westerner in the radicalised and impoverished Gaza Strip, was released to the outside world before daybreak clutched by Hamas officials and surrounded by men waving guns in the air.

“It's just the most fantastic thing, to be free,” he told BBC television by telephone from the home of sacked Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya in the Shatti refugee camp where he was invited for breakfast of hummus and cheese.

Johnston spoke of his harrowing 114-day ordeal in solitary confinement, where he was threatened with death and had not been able to see the sun for three months, but thanked everyone involved for securing his release.

“They talked about killing me and torturing me,” he told reporters after crossing into Israel. “They handcuffed me and put a hood and took me out in the middle of the night.

“The last 16 weeks of course were just the very worst you can imagine of my life. It was like being buried alive really, removed from the world and occasionally terrifying,” he said, expressing his “unimaginable relief” at being released.

Wearing blue jeans, a blue shirt and a navy jacket, he appeared relaxed, and smiled and joked for the cameras, although his face was pale and he had visibly lost weight while being held by the extremist group the Army of Islam.—AFP