Special report: Internal situation in Palestine 

    GAZA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas asserted on Wednesday that ending a state of lawlessness and restoring security were on the top of the unity government's agenda.

    "We support the interior minister and the security services to protect the Palestinians," Haneya told reporters while visiting the Interior Ministry headquarters in Gaza.

    Meanwhile, a BBC journalist has still been missing in Gaza for more than a week as his kidnapping presents a challenge for the newly-formed national unity government.

    Israeli sources reported Wednesday that the issue of BBC's Alan Johnston may take more time and the abductors linked the issue with the case of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit they have been holding in Gaza since last June.

    But Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) that participated in the capture of Shalit along with Hamas and the Islamic Army, denied the Israeli reports.

    "We have contacted the Islamic Army and they strongly denied that they hold the British journalist," Abu Mujahed told reporters.

    "These are false Israeli reports to promote a large-scale offensive and invasion into the Gaza Strip," Abu Mujahed added.