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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines: Italian among three aid workers abducted in south |
| 2009-01-16 |
| (AKI) - Militants on Thursday kidnapped an Italian, a Swiss and a Filipino aid worker employed by the International Red Cross in the southern Philippines. A regional military spokesman identified the captives as Eugenio Vagni, Andreas Notter and Jean Lacaba. The men were abducted at gunpoint from their car on the Muslim dominated island of Jolo, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for kidnappings and terror attacks. Italy's foreign ministry confirmed Vagni's abduction and said his relatives have been informed. He and his two colleagues had been travelling to Jolo airport after a humanitarian visit to a local prison when gunmen aboard motorcycles forced them out of their car. ICRC chairman Richard Gordon said the gunmen released the aid workers' driver and two other Filipinos who then reported the incident. "The ICRC currently has no indication whatsoever of who the abductors might be or of their motives. It is in contact with the authorities and other parties with the aim of resolving the situation as swiftly as possible," the organisation said in a statement. The ICRC has also set up a special crisis unit at its headquarters in Geneva. Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini announced on Thursday that staff from his ministry's crisis unit are closely monitoring developments and were in collaborating with the Italian embassy in Manila. The prime suspect in the kidnapping, Al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf's goal is to establish a Muslim 'caliphate' in the Muslim-majority southern Philippines. Over one thousand militants are believed to have joined the group since its foundation in the 1990s by Muslim preacher Abdulrajak Abubakar Janjalani. The group has twice attacked luxury beach resorts and abducted tourists, including Westerners. They have held them for months at a time and secured large ransoms for their release. In 2001, three kidnap victims, including an American, were beheaded by their Abu Sayyaf captors. In mid-2007, Islamist militants, believed to be from Abu Sayyaf kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi at gunpoint on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and held him for a month. Bossi was released unharmed. Several other Italian priests have previously been kidnapped in the southern Philippines and released unharmed. Philippines police and military say that more than 380 Abu Sayyaf fighters - down from 1,000 in 2002 - are hiding on and Basilan islands. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 cowardly faggots |
| Posted by: Oscar Hupaigum7736 2009-01-16 00:36 |