Terrorist group threatens to kill Australian hostage
TERRORIST group Al Harakatul Al-Islamiyyah has said it will kill Australian hostage Warren Rodwell, in the latest threat to the Australian government.
The message contained a threat to kill Mr Rodwell if ransom money was not paid to the group immediately.
In the photo Mr Rodwell is holding a copy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, dated January 25, 2013.
Perth link to Aussie hostage
Kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell as he appeared in a video released to YouTube.
PerthNow today came across a blog created by Mr Rodwell which goes into great detail his family history and working life.
PerthNow today came across a blog created by Mr Rodwell which goes into great detail his family history and working life.
According to the blog, Mr Rodwell was born in Homebush on the outskirts of Sydney in 1958.
One of his children was born in Subiaco in 1988.
His other two children were born in Queensland in 1985 and 1986 respectively.
According to the blog one of his children had a baby of their own in 2010.
“I developed a love of the beach at a very young age,” Mr Rodwell writes on the blog.
“Have travelled around most parts of mainland Australia. The cities that I know best are Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.”
Terrorist threat on Facebook
The Facebook message posted by the terrorist group is directed at the Australian Government and says: "We will give you a chance to save his life before it's too late."
“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,” the group said.
"If you have concerned (sic) with your men, we will give you a chance to save his life before it’s too late, as soon as possible time (sic), otherwise he will suffer unusual way of Death,” the group added.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr told ABC radio this morning the Federal Government was continuing to work to secure the release of Mr Rodwell. He said the Philippines government was leading the response and had devoted significant resources to securing Mr Rodwell's release.
The Federal Government has a policy not to pay kidnapper ransoms with taxpayer dollars.
But the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last year agreed to implement Senate recommendations that families are "made aware of the option of engaging a private kidnap and ransom consultant".
"If a family chooses to engage a kidnap and ransom specialist, DFAT will continue to provide the family and their representatives with as much information as possible bearing in mind national security and privacy concerns," DFAT said.
Currently there are four other foreigners being held for ransom in the Philippines. The last ransom hostage to be executed by his captors was a Peruvian American in 2001. There is a possibility the terrorists may not be politically motivated.
In December 2012 the terrorists released a proof-of-life video of Mr Rodwell, who was kidnapped at gunpoint on December 5, 2011, and has been held hostage in the jungles of the southern Philippines since.
A video clip released in December last year on YouTube by the group shows the 54-year-old retired soldier looking thin, haggard and depressed.
"This video clip is to say that I'm alive. I am waiting to be released," Mr Rodwell says before adding a few seconds later: "I personally hold no hope at all for being released."
The Homebush-born man says on the video - which runs for one minute 58 seconds and is believed to be authentic - that he is being held in isolation while negotiations for his release are under way.
Mr Rodwell was taken from his Southern Philippines home by suspected extremists on December 5, 2011. He was living in the area with his wife.
DFAT’s Smart Traveller website recommends Australians do not visit the area of the Philippines where Mr Rodwell was living.
Here is the full Facebook post re-published on the website Rappler:
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the Universe. May Allah bestow peace and blessings upon our Leader Muhammad, Leader of those who strive in Allah's way and Imam of the pious. May He also bestow peace and blessings upon his family and his companions, and all those who strive for the Sharee’ah until the Day of judgment.
We the Alharakatul Islamiyya in southern Philippines, Our Jihad will continue with the permission of Allah azza wa jalla, we will raise the flag of Islamic Sharee’ah and we would not be perturbed by the people who dispute with us and also not the people who aggress us, until you witness the dignity and the supremacy in our Ummah, or we will be meeting Allah azza wa jalla while in the advance and not in retreat.
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.
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.
Who is Warren Rodwell?
AUSTRALIAN Warren Rodwell has been held hostage by terrorists in the Southern Philippines for 423 days, after being kidnapped by six gunmen on December 5, 2011.
Mr Rodwell is close to becoming one of the longest-held Australian captives outside wartime.
A close friend describes him as an "adventurous" spirit who headed to the Southern Philippines so he would not become "stuck in a rut".
Mr Rodwell is understood to have served in the Australian Army in the 1980s and has spent much of the past fifteen years travelling the world.
His website indicates that he is an avid photographer.
He has spent time in South America and spent much of his decade before captivity teaching English at Chinese universities.
Mr Rodwell was living in the Philippines, in the dangerous Zamboanga Sibugay province with his wife, Miraflor, when he was abducted.
Bloodstains were found by local police at his coastal home.
The kidnapped Australian has children and siblings, with his three adult children understood to live in Perth.
The family said in a statement in January 2012 that they did not wish to make any comment about Mr Rodwell.
"We are sure people will understand that this is a difficult time for our family and friends," the statement read.
"We do not, at this stage, wish to make any public comments, and ask that the media respects our privacy."
The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing the family with consular assistance.
Mr Rodwell grew up in Sydney. During his youth, he spent several years at Sydney’s Burnside Homes as a ward of the state. He later returned there to do a pastoral counselling course in late 2010.
Rev. Martin Levine lectured Mr Rodwell in the course at the Alan Walker College of Evangelism.
Rev. Levine said he was doing the course "for personal development".
"He certainly wasn’t someone who spoke easily about his background," Rev. Levine told news.com.au. "I was dumbfounded he was in the Philippines in the first place."
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/new-death-threat-against-aussie-hostage/story-e6freon6-1226565985414
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