UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed on Thursday for the release of the kidnapped British journalist.

    In a message for World Press Freedom Day, Ban said he has been following with dismay the abduction of BBC journalist Alan Johnston most recently.

    "Johnston's coverage of issues relating to the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has rightly earned worldwide respect," he noted, stressing that "no cause is served, and any cause is undermined, by his continued captivity."

    The secretary-general thus appealed for Alan Johnston's "immediate and safe release."

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