BBC reporter in new video

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GAZA, June 25 (UPI) -- A BBC reporter kidnapped in Gaza March 12 was shown in a new video, warning the British government not to try to rescue him.

"I do appeal to the Hamas movement and the British government not -- not -- to resort to the tactics of force in an effort to end this," Alan Johnston, wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest said in the video posted on the Internet Sunday, CNN reported.

"My captors tell me that very promising negotiations were ruined when the Hamas movement and the British government decided to press for a military solution to this kidnapping, and the situation is now very serious," he said.

It wasn't clear exactly when the video was made, but Johnston, 45, referred to the Hamas takeover of Gaza, which occurred this month. Johnston was kidnapped by a group that calls itself the Army of Islam that had sought to trade him for terrorism suspects.

He said his captors would turn their hideout into as a "death zone" if there any rescue attempts were made, CNN reported.

"It is very distressing for Alan's family and colleagues to see him being threatened in this way," the BBC said Monday.