LONDON, April 23 (UPI) -- BBC officials said they hoped an interfaith vigil in London for correspondent Alan Johnston would show his abduction is abhorred by people of all faiths.
"More than anything else, we want the message to go out that Alan's abduction is not only abhorred by those who follow Christian tradition, it is also abhorred by Muslims across the world and people of the Jewish faith, and indeed people of no faith," BBC World News Editor Jon Williams said.
Johnston was seized at gunpoint in Gaza on March 12 and has not been heard from since.
People planned to gather for a multifaith service for him Monday at London's St. Martin in the Fields church, followed by a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square.
"We need to show our solidarity together, as a multifaith ... to hope that the kidnappers -- maybe Christian, maybe Muslim, maybe anybody else -- listen to us and release Alan very soon," Imam Abdul-Jalil Sajid told the BBC.
The BBC reported that an unknown militant group claimed that it had killed the BBC correspondent but the BBC and Palestinian officials said they have not been able to verify that.
