Abu Sayyaf threatens to kill Australian hostage in Philippines

From the Mindanao Examiner (Jan 31): Abu Sayyaf threatens to kill Australian hostage in Philippines

Philippine authorities on Thursday said efforts to locate a kidnapped Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell as well as other foreigners being held by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf continue in Mindanao.

This after a new video of Rodwell, 54, surfaced in Internet and in the clip, masked gunmen surrounded the former Australian army, now looking frail than previous pictures provided by the kidnappers to his Filipino wife.

The kidnappers have threatened to kill Rodwell, who kidnapped December 2011, from his seaside home in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province and is believed being held captive in the Muslim province of Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.

“To the Australian government, in behalf of the majlisus Shura of Alharakatul Islamiyya in southern Philippines, we officially inform you that your citizen Warren Rodwell is in our custody and control since he was abducted at Ipil, Sibugay Province, Mindanao Philippines last December 5, 2011 and now facing Islamic sharee’ah, if you have concerned with your men, we will give you a chance to save his life before it’s too late, as soon as possible time, otherwise he will suffer unusual way of Death,” the Abu Sayyaf said.

The Philippine Army said troops have been searching for Rodwell who was last known to be in Basilan.

“Our efforts to locate Rodwell are continuing, but so far we have no reports about him,” General Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the regional army commander, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

In the latest video, Rodwell was holding a newspaper dated January 25 and his captors – one holding a machine gun and the two others brandishing automatic rifles – stood by his sides.

Rodwell is married to a Filipina Miraflor Gutang, 28. The rebels have originally demanded $2 million ransom for the release of Rodwell, but it was not immediately known how much ransoms the Abu Sayyaf is asking for the remaining captives, who are being held by different rebel commanders.

“To our brothers in Islam we would like to make it clear that our activities like this are not for personal interests or just to gain money for personal use, let it be known to everyone we are on war against the forces of shaytan in the Philippines, its allies and supporters, and whatever we gain from this war is to be used for our future operations and other necessities,” the Abu Sayyaf said.

The Abu Sayyaf is also holding 4 other foreigners and two Filipinos and just recently rejected demands by a former Muslim rebel group to free their captives.

Army officials said a senior leader of the Moro National Liberation Front, Habier Malik, tried to negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf for the freedom of the hostages in the hinterlands of Sulu Island.

“As far as we know, the Abu Sayyaf has rejected the MNLF efforts to secure the release of the hostages, not without ransoms,” said Army Col. Rodrigo, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.

About 2,000 MNLF members headed by Malik tried to persuade the Abu Sayyaf to free the hostages.

“The efforts of the MNLF to secure the freedom of the hostages are unilateral on their part and have the permission of the local government officials and military commanders on the ground. But our efforts are also continuing to safely recover all the victims,” he said.

Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra, the Sulu police chief, said the Abu Sayyaf is holding a Japanese treasure hunter, Toshio Ito, 66, since 2010 and was last reported to have been helping the rebel group in cooking food for them and freely moves around.

He said aside from the Japanese, the Abu Sayyaf is also holding Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani, 43, and his two Filipino assistants Rolando Letrero, 22, and Ramelito Vela, 39.

The trio, he said, went to Sulu province in June last year to secretly film the Abu Sayyaf for a documentary on Al Arabiya News Channel. Prior to his detention, Atyani has had previously travelled to the province in secrecy to interview terrorist leaders, the Philippine military said.

The military has previously said it would arrest Atyani for espionage should he be released by the Abu Sayyaf. Atyani had also clandestinely interviewed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

Freyra said two European wildlife photographers Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland, kidnapped in February his year in Tawi-Tawi province had been brought to Sulu.

Police in Tawi-Tawi said the duo was allegedly seized by members of the Moro National Liberation Front. Another group of kidnappers are also holding a Malaysian fish trader Pang Choon Pong, who was seized in October 2011 in Tawi-Tawi, but his fate remains unknown.

In November last year, Malaysian authorities said two of its nationals were seized by 5 gunmen disguised as policemen from a palm oil plantation in Sabah near the Philippine border.

It said the two, who are cousins, were both working for the plantation in Lahad Datu, and had been taken at gunpoint. Their companions said the gunmen spoke in Malayu and Tausug, a dialect commonly used in the southern provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

There were no immediate reports whether the foreigners are being held in either of the two provinces, but Malaysia said the victims could be in Tawi-Tawi.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20130131070101