GAZA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas said on Tuesday that the government is "working in silence" to guarantee the freedom of abducted BBC reporter Alan Johnston.

    "I was personally authorized by the government to follow up this case and I hope all efforts would lead to his release," Haneya told a European parliamentary delegation at his office in Gaza.

    "We had expressed our anger that Johnston (was) still missing," he told a news conference outside his office following meeting with the delegation.

    "We expressed to the British parliamentarians that the government is fully responsible for Johnston's release," said Haneya.

    Johnston, 44, was kidnapped on March 12 as he was driving home in Gaza City. He was the only Western journalist based full time in the Gaza Strip where about 17 foreigners were kidnapped in the 2006.

    Meanwhile, Haneya urged the visiting legislators to help persuade the international community to deal with the coalition government which embraces Fatah movement and some other factions.

    "The unity government represents the choice of the Palestinian people," Haneya told the lawmakers who have been holding series of meetings with Palestinian officials.

    He underlined that Western aid and funds should be transferred through the Ministry of Finance, headed by the independent Minister Salam Fayyad.

    The international community asks Hamas to recognize Israel and lay down arms in order to get the siege and financial retractions lifted.

    But the political platform of the coalition fell short of explicitly adopting a clear vision regarding the international demands.