Hainatul Dinampo, wife of Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinampo, one of three people being held by the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya gestures as she is being interviewed by television reporters at the Sulu Provincial Capitol on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Abu Sayyaf militants are also holding ABS-CBN award winning reporter Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion since June 8 after they were kidnapped in Sulu's Maimbung town. The kidnappers demanded as much as P50 million ransoms. And below, Hainatul and her daughter, Fatima. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 14, 2008) – More than a dozen militants have reportedly joined the Abu Sayyaf group that is holding a kidnapped Philippine television news crew and a university professor in the southern island of Sulu.
Many of those who joined the kidnappers were lured by huge ransom the Abu Sayyaf is demanding in exchange for the release of a multi-awarded ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, including their guide, Professor Octavio Dinampo, of the Mindanao State University.
President Gloria Arroyo ordered police and military forces to recover the hostages safely.
They were kidnapped June 8 in Maimbung town while on their way to interview a senior militant leader Radulan Sahiron, who has allegedly sent surrender feelers.
Militants have freed late Thursday television cameraman Angelo Valderama in the village of Sinumaan in Talipao town.
Intelligence reports said many of those who joined the kidnappers were new and old members of the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. It said the number of the Abu Sayyaf is expected to increase more as negotiations for the release of the hostages drag on.
Sulu police chief, Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim said they also received reports that the number of gunmen holding Drilon’s group has increased. “We received reports that the number of armed men holding the hostages is increasing,” he told the Mindanao Examiner without further elaborating.
Military and police authorities fear any ransom paid to the Abu Sayyaf could be used to purchase weapons and fund terrorism campaign in the southern Philippines.
The kidnappers were reported to be demanding as much as P50 million, but ABS-CBN said it will not pay ransom to the Abu Sayyaf.
But Indanan town Mayor Isnaji Alvarez, who negotiated for the release of the cameraman, said he paid a few hundred thousand pesos to the kidnappers with some of the money coming from Sulu Deputy Gov. Nur Ana Sahidulla.
Alvarez said the money paid to the Abu Sayyaf was for “board and lodging” and not ransom.
"We are waiting for the kidnappers to call us so we can resume negotiations for the safe release of the hostages. We pray that this crisis will end soon," he said in a separate interview Saturday.
The Abu Sayyaf cut off all communication lines to the negotiators for a still unknown reason. But military sources said the kidnappers were constantly moving from one hideout to another to avoid detection.
But Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, commander of the regional police force, said the negotiations are continuing.
Sahidulla is helping Alvarez secure the freedom of the remaining hostages. She appealed to the kidnappers on Saturday to free Drilon’s group. “We appeal to you to free the innocent victims. You are not only giving our province and bad name, but the entire country as well,” she said.
Gov. Sakur Tan, head of the local crisis management committee, and families of the hostages, including the ABS-CBN, have earlier made a similar appeal.
Alvarez said the kidnappers were also negotiating directly with Drilon's family, but he did not give details of the progress of the talks.
The kidnappers reportedly demanded ransom between P10 million to P50 million. And that P5 million was allegedly paid to the gang for Valderama's release, other sources said.
Media reports also said that P2 million was paid to the Abu Sayyaf, but Alvarez denied this and at the same time criticized Amilasan Amilbajar, an assistant of outgoing Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza, who was allegedly the source of the news.
Dureza has been named as new Press Secretary and former military chief Hermogenes Esperon will take over as new Peace adviser.
The kidnappers have selected Alvarez to negotiate for the release of the hostages. Alvarez is also one of seven candidates running for the regional governor in the Muslim autonomous region elections in August.
The wife of the kidnapped professor, Hainatul Dinampo, said she was able to speak with her husband on Wednesday and told her to watch over their ten children.
“My husband told me to be strong and take care of our children. I was crying as we speak briefly on the cell phone,” the woman told the Mindanao Examiner after meeting with Tan at the Provincial Capitol in Patikul town where she sought help for the release of the captives.
She said an emissary of Alvarez on Saturday delivered medicines for Dinampo, who is suffering from arthritis. She also appealed to the kidnappers to free all the remaining hostages.
“Please release them all. They are innocent and kind people,” Hainatul said, adding, the governor assured her the government is working for the release of the hostages.
She said the kidnappers were also demanding an unspecified amount of money from her for the freedom of Dinampo. “They are asking money alright, but we are poor,” she said.
Police identified the kidnappers Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad, Gafur Jumdail and Umbra Jumdail, also known as Dr. Abu.
Parad and Jumdail are notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by Washington and Manila for terrorism and kidnappings-for-ransom. The two are also believed coddling Jemaah Islamiya bomber Dulmatin and Umar Patek, tagged as behind the 2002 deadly bombings in the resort island of Bali which killed more than 200 mostly Australian holidaymakers and in several attacks in Jakarta.
The Abu Sayyaf group was also tagged as behind the kidnapping early this year of Maria Rosalie Lao, 58, a rice trader in Jolo town. It was also behind the kidnappings of 21 people, mostly Asian and European tourists from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in 2001 and three US citizens and more than dozen Filipinos in the posh Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine island of Palawan.
Last year, the group kidnapped seven people in Sulu and beheaded them after their families failed to pay up ransom. The US has offered up to $5 million bounty and Manila as much as P10 million rewards for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Jumdail, for their capture – dead or alive. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment