Fox Journalist Says He's 'Sympathetic' to Captors

Aug. 31, 2006 — -- Despite being taken hostage at gunpoint in Gaza by a jihadist group and held captive for 13 days, Fox News cameraman Olaf Wiig says he can't condemn his captors.

"It's really complex," Wiig said on "Good Morning America."

"In some ways, I feel such sympathy for the Palestinian cause. You know, in my heart. You know, I can't hate them for what they did. I resent on behalf of my family what they did. But there's a funny bit of me that's sympathetic to them still."

Wiig, 36, and Steve Centanni, 60, were abducted by masked gunmen earlier this month.

Centanni, a Fox correspondent, said they were sometimes held facedown in a dark garage, tied up in painful positions, and forced at gunpoint to make videos and say they had converted to Islam.

The two journalists were dropped off Sunday at Gaza City's Beach Hotel by Palestinian security officials.

Centanni said he felt "sheer animal fear" after he and Wiig were taken hostage.

"I was wondering if I was going to die of a heart attack or if the next thing would be a bullet in my head," Centanni said.

According to Wiig, when asked where they were being taken, their captors said, "To hell. You're going to hell."

A previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades held the two men in a garage for 13 days, forcing them to pledge allegiance to Islam.

On the day of Centanni's and Wiig's release, their captors delivered a video showing the two men in Arab robes reading from the Koran to indicate their conversion to Islam.

Centanni has said their conversion was forced at gunpoint.

"I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on," he said in other reports.