By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - British reporter Alan Johnston, looking pale and tired, was released Wednesday after nearly four months in captivity in the Gaza Strip and said it was “fantastic” to be free after an “appalling” ordeal.

The British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent described his time in captivity as “occasionally quite terrifying” in a telephone interview with the BBC. “It was an appalling experience,” he said, speaking from the home of deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.

“It is indescribably good to be out,” he said in a steady and composed voice. “It is just the most fantastic thing to be free,” he added, saying he felt as well as could be expected.

“I didn’t know where it was going to end,” he said, adding that he had endured “an extraordinary level of stress” and psychological pressure. “I probably got out if it as well as I could have.”

Johnston was kidnapped by a shadowy, little-known group from a Gaza City street on March 12 and held far longer than any other foreign reporter in Gaza.

After his release, he was taken to the home of Haniyeh in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp. Before entering, Johnston told an Associated Press reporter, “I’m OK, really, I’m OK.”

Television footage showed Johnston emerging from a building in Gaza surrounded by a throng of armed Palestinian men and escorted into a waiting car while cameras flashed around him.

Simon Wilson, the BBC’s Middle East bureau chief, speaking to BBC News 24 from Jerusalem, said he had spoken to Johnston following his release. “His first thoughts were for others and for what they’ve done for him.”

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