GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip &#8212 Gaunt but smiling, kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston emerged Wednesday from 16 weeks of solitary confinement in a dark room, an experience he said was “like being buried alive.”

Johnston, who had been snatched by al-Qaida-inspired militants, said it was “fantastic” to be free.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers said Johnston’s release marked the beginning of a new era of law and order in the lawless coastal strip, including a crackdown on vigilante gunmen. However, they also acknowledged they would not disarm Johnston’s captors, the Army of Islam, which has close ties to one of Gaza’s most powerful clans.

Hamas also said Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Hamas-allied militants last year, could be freed next, provided Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israel, however, has balked at such demands.

At a news conference with Hamas officials, Johnston &#8212 who was held in captivity far longer than any other foreigner kidnapped in Gaza &#8212 described his experience as “occasionally terrifying.”

“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,” he said.

Headed by a man known as Abu Khaled, he said, his kidnappers were “often rude and unpleasant.” They kept him chained and in solitary confinement for 16 weeks and “did threaten my life a number of times in various ways,” Johnston said.

Johnston described his captors as a small “jihadi” group focused less on the Palestinian conflict with Israel than on “getting a knife into Britain in some way,” he said. In exchange for Johnston, the Army of Islam had originally demanded that Britain free a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaida.

A native of Scotland who covered Gaza for three years, Johnston was snatched from a Gaza City street by gunmen on March 12.

Hamas had demanded Johnston’s freedom since it violently seized control of Gaza last month, apparently hoping to curry favor with Western countries that have unanimously condemned the takeover.

Gaza’s new strongman, Hamas hardliner Mahmoud Zahar, said Johnston’s release marks a new era. “It is a clear message,” he said. “We will not allow illegal actions against anyone. We are going to confiscate weapons in the hands of clans used for personal interests.”

A spokesman for the kidnappers, Abu Khattab al-Maqdisi, said the group’s weapons “will not be handed over to anyone.” However, he said the kidnappers got little in return for Johnston. “The only guarantee was that Islam would spread around the world,” he added.

After his release, Johnston was surrounded by armed Hamas security men and hustled to a press conference with Ismail Haniyeh, the former Palestinian prime minister who now heads the Hamas regime in Gaza. Haniyeh draped a Palestinian flag around Johnston’s shoulders – which he quickly removed – and pinned a Palestinian flag pin on his blue blazer.

Haniyeh would not disclose details of the deal that led to the reporter’s release.

But on Monday, Hamas snatched the Army of Islam’s spokesman, possibly as a bargaining chip, and then released him on Tuesday. Hamas also said Tuesday there would be no crackdown on the group, which is dominated by the powerful, heavily armed Doghmush clan.

Shortly after his release, Johnston told the BBC in a telephone interview that it was “indescribably good to be out.”