British journalist Paul Martin freed from Gaza captivity

British journalist Paul Martin, held in a Hamas jail in the Gaza Strip for nearly one month, was released Thursday, Palestinian officials said, DPA reported.

Martin was detained on February 14, when he voluntarily appeared at a court in Gaza City to testify on behalf of a Palestinian activist on trial for alleged collaboration with Israel.

The activist had appeared in a documentary video Martin had made in 2008.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar told reporters in Gaza city that Martin, who is also a South African national, "has committed several crimes against security, threatening the lives of Palestinians." Martin had also met "met several groups of criminals," he said.

Taher al-Noono, a spokesman for the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, said Martin's release came in response to request from South African and British diplomats in the West Bank.