<p>Palestinian authorities said Tuesday they were close to securing the release of an Israeli Arab producer for CNN who was kidnapped nearly 24 hours earlier at gunpoint from his van.</p><p>A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials had reached an agreement with the kidnappers and the journalist, Riad Ali, would be released "very shortly." He did not elaborate.</p><p>It was not clear whether the kidnapping signaled a new practice by Palestinian militants _ perhaps an attempt to copy Iraqi insurgents who have snatched dozens of foreigners _ or whether Ali was taken for personal reasons.</p><p>The Palestinian security official said more information would be available after Ali's release.</p><p>The motive of Monday evening's kidnapping of the CNN producer was not clear. By midday Tuesday, the kidnappers had still made no public statement or demand, and Palestinian militant factions denied involvement.</p><p>In four years of fighting with Israel, militant groups have carried out scores of suicide bombings and shooting attacks, but have refrained from kidnapping non-Palestinians as a way of extracting concessions from Israel.</p><p>Ali had been singled out by the kidnappers, and there was speculation someone had a personal grudge against him.</p><p>Militants might also have opened a new front by targeting an Israeli journalist following the assassination of a Hamas leader in Syria on Sunday. Israeli security sources have acknowledged involvement in the killing, and Hamas, weakened after a string of killings of its leaders, has vowed revenge.</p><p>Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on Tuesday said authorities were working hard for Ali's release and urged the kidnappers to free him. "It is wrong and criminal. It must be ended," Qureia said. "What will be achieved?"</p><p>Witnesses said an old-model Peugeot 504 carrying gunmen stopped a CNN van outside a supermarket late Monday in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, close to the Ramattan Studios that provide services to foreign TV companies.</p><p>CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman said three armed men walked up to the van, asked for Ali and took him away. Wedeman, a second American and their Palestinian driver were left alone, he said.</p><p>CNN said in a statement it had not heard from the abductors. The network, along with the Foreign Press Association and the Palestinian Journalists Association, demanded his immediate release.</p><p>Israeli Arab journalist Rafik Halabi, who supervised Ali when he worked at Israel TV, said Ali has not been harmed.</p><p>"What I understand, what I know, is that Riad, my good friend and colleague, is alive and well," Halabi told Army Radio, refusing to elaborate. The radio station said contact had been made with the kidnappers, but gave no further details.</p><p>During four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, foreign and Israeli Arab journalists have felt relatively safe in Gaza. In one of the few incidents of violence against foreign journalists, Palestinians attempted to kidnap a New York Times correspondent last May, but the reporter escaped.</p><p>However, Gaza has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months amid growing discontent with the weakened Palestinian Authority and ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the area next year.</p>
