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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines: Muslim clerics enlisted to end hostage crisis |
| 2009-04-17 |
| [ADN Kronos] The Philippines government has involved two Muslim clerics in negotiations to release two European Red Cross workers being held by Al-Qaeda linked Muslim militants on the southern island of Jolo in Sulu province. Sulu's governor Abdusakur Tan said Muslim clerics are now helping in efforts to convince the bandits from Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf to free Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni. Notter and Vagni were seized January 15 along with Filipino aid worker Mary Jean Lacaba. Lacaba was released on 2 April after intense negotiations. Vagni, in his sixties, is reported to have health problems. Tan said the government had enlisted the help of the Muslim clerics as a "last-ditch" effort to secure Vagni and Notter's safe release. Also on Wednesday, interior secretary Ronaldo Puno and the head of the Philippines police, Jesus Verzosa, arrived in Sulu and met with Tan to discuss the progress of the negotiations, said Sonny Abing III, the provincial government spokesman, quoted by private TV channel GMA News. The Abu Sayyaf bandits have repeatedly threatened to kill the remaining hostages if security forces do not pull back from several Jolo villages and the town of Parang. Security forces have surrounded the jungle lair of Indanan town to prevent the terrorists from escaping with their captives. Authorities have rejected Abu Sayyaf's demand, and have vowed to ensure the two Red Cross workers are released unharmed. Hundreds of armed village guards under the supervision of police and local mayors also put up a cordon around the Abu Sayyaf stronghold, GMA News reported. The network quoted military and police intelligence reports as saying the kidnappers include several suspects alleged to belong to the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network. The suspects were said to include Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek. All are wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks there, including the Bali nightclub bombing in 2002 which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The US has offered rewards of at least 16 million dollars for their capture. The Philippines army said suspected rogue elements from the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Monday beheaded one of two Filipino Christian hostages captured last week in the province of Basilan in the Sulu Archipelago. |
| Posted by:Fred |