The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Sulu has offered help to secure the release of two Tausug independent film-maker sisters taken captive by Abu Sayyaf militants, an official said here.
The MNLF also requested the military and police to halt any operations and allow negotiations to secure the release of the hostages.
Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’s Islamic
Command Council (ICC), said the MNLF has been exerting efforts to seek
the release of Nadjoua and Linda Bansil who are believed to be in the hands of
the Abu Sayyaf group.
“We are appealing to the group, whoever, they are, be they
are from the Abu Sayyaf to please ly release the victims on humanitarian
grounds,” Hashim said.
The Bansils, daughter of a Tausug imam (Muslim preacher) but
have Morrocan blood through their mother, were abducted last Saturday morning
in Barangay Liang, Patikul town while filming for a documentary in Sulu.
The Bansils were among the nominees of the 2013 Gawad Urian
Arawads for the film ‘Bohe – Sons of the Waves’ (a short film about the Muslim
sea gypsy) that also got a similar nomination from Cinemalaya Awards.
Hashim said they will exhaust all peaceful means to
convince the Abu Sayyaf group to free the victims unharmed.
The MNLF and Abu Sayyaf had clashed previously when the
former was exerting efforts to free Jordanian Baker Atyani.
The fighting left close to a dozen MNLF fighters and 19 Abu
Sayyaf dead in a series of encounters in Patikul town. Atyani, however, remains
an Abu Sayyaf captive.
Atyani was abducted on June 13 last year along with
two Filipino television crewmen, who were freed in February.
Hashim believed that not all MNLF members fought the Abu
Sayyaf group.
“The situation in Sulu is different from Basilan and we are
trying to find ways to convince the abductors to release the victims,” Hashim
added.
Hashim also appealed to the government forces to halt any
operation that would endanger the lives of the captives.
“We would like to request the military not to conduct
operation," Hashim said.
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/06/25/958089/mnlf-offers-help-secure-release-sayyaf-hostages
The MNLF-ICC is one of several MNLF factions, and a relatively small one at that, perhaps numbering no more than 200 fighters.
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