Kate Burton (aid worker)
Encyclopedia
Kate Burton is an English aid worker who was kidnapped together with her parents from the town of Rafah
in the Gaza Strip
on December 28, 2005.
Seven kidnappers armed with automatic rifles pulled over the car occupied by Kate Burton and her parents Hugh and Win Burton and then bundled them into a white vehicle on December 28, 2005, as she was showing her parents around the Palestinian town of Rafah
close to the border with Egypt
.
The Palestinian
authorities stepped up efforts to find the three persons by setting up road blocks in the area. The militant group al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
condemned the kidnappings. There were also public protests in Gaza calling for their release.
Palestinian mediators said on December 30 that they expected the hostages to be released shortly. Subsequently, all three hostages were released on December 30 following the release of a video by the kidnappers over the internet. No ransom was paid for the release of the hostages. Kate Burton's brother, Jamie Burton, released a statement on behalf of the family, saying that Kate intended to continue working in Gaza.
In addition to her native English
Burton is fluent in Arabic, French
, German and Spanish
.
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
on December 28, 2005.
Seven kidnappers armed with automatic rifles pulled over the car occupied by Kate Burton and her parents Hugh and Win Burton and then bundled them into a white vehicle on December 28, 2005, as she was showing her parents around the Palestinian town of Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
close to the border with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
The Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
authorities stepped up efforts to find the three persons by setting up road blocks in the area. The militant group al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank. The group's name refers to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
condemned the kidnappings. There were also public protests in Gaza calling for their release.
Palestinian mediators said on December 30 that they expected the hostages to be released shortly. Subsequently, all three hostages were released on December 30 following the release of a video by the kidnappers over the internet. No ransom was paid for the release of the hostages. Kate Burton's brother, Jamie Burton, released a statement on behalf of the family, saying that Kate intended to continue working in Gaza.
In addition to her native English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Burton is fluent in Arabic, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.