Reports from the field tend to indicate that the two German tourists who went missing last April in the high seas between Palawan and Sabah are in the custody of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a source from the intelligence community based in Manila disclosed on Monday.
The source shared a copy of a photograph going the rounds of the intelligence community showing the two Germans surrounded by a group of men armed with heavy automatic weapons, with two fighters sitting on the ground and the two Germans holding what appears to be a German Flag.
The two Germans were identified in previous media reports as Stefan Victor Okonek, 71 and Herike Diesen 55.
The ASG has gained notoriety with kidnap for ransom activities.
The two were taken by heavily-armed bandits while on their way to Sabah, Malaysia from Palawan in late April, the Manila based intelligence officer said.
The two Germans had just come from an island-hoping trip around the coast of Mindanao when abducted on April 26 in the waters off Bataraza town in the Southern tip of Palawan province.
"The ASG have been holding the Germans since they were taken last April from Palawan," the intelligence officer, who asked not to be named, said.
When asked if there are ongoing negotiations for the release of the two Germans, the source replied in the negative.
"I'm not privy to whether or not there were negotiations taking place... but what I know is that the Germans don't trust us," the intelligence source said.
The German tourists were abducted after the presence of their yacht was purportedly tipped off by relatives of the Abu Sayyaf fighters who were living in the area.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/93078/photo-shows-2-abducted-german-tourists-apparently-in-hands-of-asg
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