Getting the right connections was key to the release last Friday of Abu Sayyaf Group’s (ASG) Norwegian hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad, according to Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus “Jess” Dureza.
“When I went to Oslo in the first meeting (peace talks) there (last August), the foreign minister arranged for me to meet the [Kjartan’s] brother, Odd Sekkingstad. The brother said he did not have money and they are a poor family in Norway. After meeting with the hostage’s family there, I said personally, I need to do everything,” Dureza said, as he shared his inside story with the Manila Bulletin yesterday at the MB integrated newsroom in Intramuros, Manila.
“So, I tapped again the people who had been sidelined,” Dureza went on, referring to his contacts in negotiations for the release of three others who, along with Sekkingstad, were abducted in a resort on Samal Island in Davao del Norte exactly a year ago today, on September 21, 2015. “One of these contacts of mine is connected to Nur Misuari.”
ROUNDTABLE GUEST — Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza dons a Manila Bulletin jacket after being interviewed by the paper’s senior editors during a roundtable talk on Wednesday. With Dureza are Manila Bulletin Executive Vice President Herminio Coloma Jr. (left) and Editor in Chief Jun Icban. (Albert Garcia/Manila Bulletin)
Dureza communicated with Misuari via phone, as the latter has a standing arrest warrant for the Zamboanga siege that happened in September, 2013.
“So, Nur operated, and then, when I went there, I was told that they were ‘almost there’ (release of Sekkingstad), the hostage is ready to be delivered. But I wanted to make sure that what they would deliver to Nur is really Kjartan, but there was no way to find out.”
CRUCIAL QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
“When I went to talk to the brother (Odd), I asked for some information only Kjartan knows,” Dureza said. “So, when they said, ‘He [Sekkingstad] is here,’ I asked Nur if I could talk to Kjartan just to make sure it was Kjartan because I never really knew him.”
Dureza first asked Kjartan for the name of his brother. “‘Brother in Norway? Odd!’ he answered,” Dureza said.
Then, he asked for the name of the boat Sekkingstad was building in Davao. According to Dureza, Sekkingstad was actually building a yacht at the time of his abduction. The Norwegian belonged to a family that owns a resort in Samal Island.
“I was told that he planned to name it ‘Wilkun.’ So, I sent the question to the handler first. I said, ‘Can you ask this question to that person to determine if he’s really Kjartan? What is the name of the boat that he’s building?’ The answer to me was ‘larang-larang,’ ‘Larang-larang?’ Oh, it might not be him! Only for me to be told that ‘larang-larang’ is the Tausug for a vessel. So it coincided that what [Kjartan] was referring to the name Wilkun was larang-larang. And so I said, bingo! So we proceeded to get him.”
The night before Sekkingstad’s release, Misuari would not allow Kjartan to go down from their turf because it was already late at night and it was raining. The following morning, Misuari himself wanted to take Kjartan to Dureza who was in Jolo, Sulu.
“But he was with the rest of his troops who were all armed. It should not be that way, as the military would react. Another thing was that if he would go to see me and he has a warrant, I am duty-bound to say ‘I am taking you in custody already because I’m already a public official.’ So, I told him it would not work.”
Finally, Dureza decided to tell Misuari to just stay put and the former would claim Sekkingstad.
“So, I had to go up the mountain and fetch Kjartan myself,”Dureza said. “And he was finally turned over.”
Dureza admitted that he was not really able to follow through the case of Sekkingstad because he had “almost surrendered” already, having failed to help John Ridsdel, Sekkingstad’s fellow hostage.
Ridsdel, who, Dureza said, was close to his family, was beheaded by the terror group on April 25, 2016.
“Our success there was really because we got the right connections,”Dureza said, “and Nur seemed like he really wanted to impress President Duterte, in all honesty.”
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