May 18 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi Television said Palestinian Islamist group Hamas abducted its Gaza bureau chief on Friday. In Gaza, Hamas denied the charge. Following are kidnappings of foreigners in the Palestinian territory over the past two years: Jan 8, 2005 - Two Spanish reporters, Ramon Lobo and Carmen Secanella, are briefly abducted by Palestinian militants. Aug 8 - Two UN aid workers, Steven Karl, a Swiss national, and Christine Blunt, a Briton, are briefly kidnapped by gunmen in the Gaza Strip and freed in a police raid shortly afterwards. Aug 15 - Gunmen abduct journalist Mohammad Ouathi, a French citizen of Algerian origin. He is freed a week later. Sept 10 - Palestinian gunmen abduct Italian journalist Lorenzo Cremonesi in the town of Deir al-Balah and free him several hours later. Dec 21 - Gunmen briefly kidnap two teachers, Dutchman Hendrik Taatgen and Australian Brian Ambrosio, on their way to the American school where they worked. Dec 28 - Kate Burton, a British human rights worker, and her visiting parents Hugh and Helen are kidnapped in the chaotic southern town of Rafah and freed two days later. Jan 1, 2006 - A faction of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades briefly abducts Italian peace activist Alessandro Bernardini. March 15 - The last of a group of foreign hostages kidnapped during a wave of violence are freed. Militants angered at an Israeli raid on a West Bank jail seized the two French nationals and a South Korean on March 14. The three, all journalists, were among nine foreigners snatched in Gaza and the West Bank. Aug 27 - Two journalists working for Fox News are freed unharmed, after being forced to convert to Islam. Correspondent Steve Centanni, an American, and New Zealand-born cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were held for two weeks. Oct 23 - Spanish photographer, Emilio Morenatti, working for the Associated Press is snatched by four gunmen as he leaves a Gaza City apartment. He is released 12 hours later. Jan 7, 2007 - Palestinian gunmen free journalist Jaime Razuri, a Peruvian photographer for the French news agency Agence France-Presse, after holding him for almost a week. March 12 - The BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston disappears while driving. Army of Islam, a little-known group, in May claims responsibility for abducting him. May 18 - Abu Dhabi Television's Gaza bureau chief Abdel-Salam Abu Aksar calls his office to say he has been stopped and is being detained at a checkpoint set up by the Hamas Executive Force, a colleague tells Reuters.
