Although he appeared gaunt and walked stiffly, the 45-year-old Scot appeared mentally strong and remained composed as he gave a joint press conference with Mr Haniya and other officials at the Hamas leader's Gaza City office - designed to reinforce the message that it was Hamas which had won his freedom. After that he was taken to the British consulate in Jerusalem, from where he was to fly home to the UK later today. "The last 16 weeks, of course, were just the very worst you can imagine of my life, like being buried alive, really, removed from the world," said Johnston, who had been held for far longer than any other Western journalist in Gaza.
"It is just the most fantastic thing to be free." At that press conference and in subsequent interviews during his first hours of freedom, Mr Johnston recounted how he had repeatedly feared for his life during his time in captivity. The first month, he said, he was kept in a place where he could see the sun, but afterward, he was closeted in an apartment where the shutters were always drawn.
"It s been basically three months since I saw the sun," he said. "I dreamt, literally dreamt, of being free again and always woke up in that room. It's almost hard to believe that I'm not going to wake up in a minute in that room again," he added.
But he was able through most of his captivity to follow the news on a radio, first via the BBC Arabic service then, with another radio set, through its World Service in English and had been buoyed by the worldwide reaction after his abduction on a Gaza City street on March 12. He was also able to follow events in Gaza itself as Hamas took control of the coastal strip last month and started to ratchet up the pressure on his kidnappers - fearing to the end that he could be killed in the event of a shootout. "I thought there was a chance that they might really kill me, that they might not let Hamas get what they came for," he said this morning.
He also found time to make a quick crackling phone call home, to his parents, Graham and Margaret, in his home village of Lochgoilhead in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland - describing later how his main regret was the trauma he had put them through. His parents had recorded a number of messages with the BBC to keep up the pressure for his release but had had to endure a false claim from another Palestinian group on April 16 that it had killed him - only to be reassured by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, that he was still alive. They had also had to watch two videos of their son released by his captors, including one showing him in a suicide bomber's explosive belt which the group threatened to set off if there was any attempt to free him by force.
He also confirmed that after three years as the BBC's Gaza correspondent and almost four months in captivity, he had no plans to come back to the territory. The exact terms of any deal to release Johnston are still unclear but appear to have involved an amnesty towards the Army of Islam and a prisoner swap including not just Johnston but ten Hamas members also held by the renegade group,. The Army of Islam had demanded that Britain release a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaeda in return for Johnston.
It also had threatened to kill the reporter if Hamas tried to free him by force. A senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, denied that Hamas acted in an effort to improve its relations with the West, which is boycotting the Islamic group over its violently anti-Israel ideology. "We didn t work to receive favours from the British government.
We did this because of humanitarian concern, and to achieve a government aim to extend security to all without fear," Mr Zahar said. Last-minute negotiations almost stumbled over Army of Islam s demands to be able to hold on to their weapons. The kidnappers feared that other Gaza families with whom they are locked into blood feuds would take the opportunity to seek revenge.
Hamas refused their demands and told them that if Johnston was released, full talks on conditions could be held afterwards. Hamas fighters were pulling away from the Army of Islam compound last night, firing their guns in celebration. One of the fighters involved in the siege told The Times: "After they had been surrounded and we had closed in on them, they decided to release.
They surrendered with no conditions. We gave them security if they handed him over alive and unharmed and they handed over their weapons." Earlier in the day, hundreds of Hamas fighters threw a tight cordon around the area of Gaza City where Johnston was being held to try to force the Army of Islam to relinquish its hostage.
Members of the Army of Islam said that they had planted car bombs around the area to detonate if Hamas forces stormed the heavily built up area of two-storey concrete apartment blocks. Hamas had deployed snipers on rooftops and had local civilians from the Sabra area of Gaza City, where Johnston was held, spying on the movements of the kidnapper gang. In the 114 days of his captivity Muslim leaders, journalists and politicians have united to condemn his captors and more than 180,000 people have signed an online petition calling for his release.
The Army of Islam, which claims ties to al-Qaeda, is estimated to number between 150 and 200 fighters and is led by Mumtaz Dagmoush, a local militant who has previously served in several other Gaza militias. The noose was thrown around the Sabra area, just south of the city centre, a day after Hamas arrested the group s spiritual leader, Kattab al-Maqdisi, who many here believe was the brains behind the operation. The Army of Islam, whose formerly close relations with Hamas soured earlier this year, was one of three Hamas-allied groups that captured Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit more than a year ago.
At today's 6am news conference, Mr Haniyeh said Hamas was interested in ending Corporal Shalit s captivity through an "honourable" prisoner exchange deal. "Israel welcomes the release of Alan Johnston and we know that the release brings relief brings to his family and friends," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Israel hoped for his safe release, just as we hope for the safe release of our own hostage, Gilad Shalit.
" Although he appeared gaunt and walked stiffly, the 45-year-old Scot appeared mentally strong and remained composed as he gave a joint press conference with Mr Haniya and other officials at the Hamas leader's Gaza City office - designed to reinforce the message that it was Hamas which had won his freedom.
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