2 European, Jordanian hostages being held by MNLF, Philippine military says

From the Mindanao Examiner (Oct 29): 2 European, Jordanian hostages being held by MNLF, Philippine military says

 The Philippine military on Monday implicated former Muslim rebels, whose group had signed a peace deal with Manila, to the kidnappings of two European wildlife photographers and a Jordanian television reporter and his two Filipino cameramen now being held captive in Sulu province. This after the Moro National Liberation Front accused the military of attacking its forces under Tahir Usman in Sulu’s Patikul town over the weekend, sparking a five-hour gun battle that left 17 soldiers dead and wounded. Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said Abu Sayyaf and MNLF forces attacked troops sent to investigate the reported presence of Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland, who were kidnapped this year in Tawi-Tawi province; and Baker Atyani, 43, of Al Arabiya News Channel, and his crew Rolando Letrero, 22, and Ramelito Vela, 39. “As far as we are concerned, government troops clashed with the group of Abu Sayyaf and MNLF forces in Patikul and they are holding the three foreign kidnapped victims, who are the center of our operations in Sulu,” Cabangbang told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner, adding troops are still searching for the trio....

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20121029080745