Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions superior, Rev. Gianni Sandalo appears in agony as he speaks on the phone in Zamboanga City after his fellow Italian missioner Fr Giancarlo Bossi, whose image is on his computer, is kidnapped by Muslim rebels June 10, 2007 in Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay province in southern RP. The rebels have evaded a massive military rescue operation in Zamboanga Sibugay and are believed hiding in Lanao del Norte province with the priest. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is helping in the rescue mission, says the kidnappers demanded a huge ransom. MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Jun) – Muslim gunmen holding a kidnapped Catholic priest in the southern Philippines have demanded a huge ransom in exchange for his safe release.
The gunmen demanded “tens of millions of pesos” for the freedom of Fr Giancarlo Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), according to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is helping Filipino authorities rescue the 57-year old missioner from Milan.
Bossi was kidnapped June 10 after celebrating mass in the coastal village of Bulawan in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Payao town. Police and military implicated a renegade leader of the MILF, Akiddin Abdusallam and his brother, Waning Abdusallam, in the kidnapping.
The MILF denied Abdusallam is a member of the rebel group and said he had long joined the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
“Our forces have intercepted a random demand and the kidnappers are asking tens of millions of pesos in exchange for the freedom of the poor Italian priest. We are verifying this ransom note,” a rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner, by phone from an MILF headquarters in the southern Philippines.
PIME superior Rev. Gianni Sandalo previously said his group will not pay ransom to the kidnappers. “We have no money. We are missionaries,” he said.
Bossi, who started his missionary in Payao since 1998, is the third Italian priest kidnapped in Zamboanga Peninsula in the past ten years.
Moro rebels kidnapped Fr. Luciano Benedetti, 52, in Zamboanga del Norte province in 1998 and held for nearly 10 weeks until he was freed in exchange for a huge government ransom.
In 2001, renegade MILF rebels snatched Fr. Giuseppi Pierantoni as the 44-year-old from Bologna said mass in the parish church of Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur. He escaped from his abductors after six months in captivity.
Bossi is believed being held prisoner in Lanao del Norte province after kidnappers evaded a massive military hunt in Zamboanga Sibugay.
“MILF forces are trailing the kidnappers and we have located their hideout in Lanao and our fighters have surrounded their lair,” Kabalu said.
Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the Army’s First Infantry Division, lpreviously said his troops have also surrounded the kidnappers’ hideout in Zamboanga Sibugay and that it was only a matter of time before they can rescue the hostage.
Pajarito could not be contacted on Monday and his phones were turned off.
Bossi is believed being held prisoner in Lanao del Norte province after kidnappers evaded a massive military hunt in Zamboanga Sibugay.
“MILF forces are trailing the kidnappers and we have located their hideout in Lanao and our fighters have surrounded their lair,” Kabalu said.
Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the Army’s First Infantry Division, lpreviously said his troops have also surrounded the kidnappers’ hideout in Zamboanga Sibugay and that it was only a matter of time before they can rescue the hostage.
Pajarito could not be contacted on Monday and his phones were turned off.
But Kabalu said the government soldiers pursuing the kidnappers have increased and putting the MILF rescue mission in danger because of possible armed clashes between security and rebel forces. “We are trying to avoid accidental clashes between the MILF and security forces. This will put the rescue operation in jeopardy,” he said.
The MILF, which is talking peace with Manila, forged an agreement in 2004 that paved the way for rebel forces to help government hunt down terrorists and criminal elements in areas where the rebel group is actively operating.
The MILF, which is talking peace with Manila, forged an agreement in 2004 that paved the way for rebel forces to help government hunt down terrorists and criminal elements in areas where the rebel group is actively operating.
But the accord ends on Thursday unless both sides agree to renew the interim pact and if not, the MILF may not be able to continue helping authorities rescue the missioner.
The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, has previously helped in rescuing many Filipino and foreign kidnapped victims in the restive region of Mindanao. It also provided the Philippine government with a list of names of suspected Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding in Mindanao. (Mark Navales and Juan Magtanggol)
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