4 Cops Wounded In Zamboanga Grenade Attack

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 21, 2008) – Four policemen were wounded, one of them seriously, in a grenade attack in the southern Philippines, officials said Saturday.

Officials said the attack occurred late Friday at a police station near a bus depot in the town of Kabasalan in Zamboanga Sibugay province, about 120 kilometers from Zamboanga City.

One of the injured policemen was transferred to hospital in Zamboanga City because of serious shrapnel wounds.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is a known stronghold of Muslim and communist separatist rebel groups, blamed by police and military in previous attacks in the province.

“The attack targeted the police station and we still do not know who was behind it, but government troops are in the town are in heightened alert and assisting police forces in security operation,” Army Major Eugene Batara, a regional military spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

It was unknown whether the attack was connected to the June 14 killing of Akiddin Abdusalam, a rogue leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in Kabasalan town.

Philippine Army Major General Nehemias Pajarito said Abdusalam was killed June 14 in a clash with police and government soldiers near a wharf in Kabasalan town. He said two of Abdusalam's aides managed to escape, but one was wounded in the fighting.

But Abdusalam’s relatives claimed military intelligence agents met with the rebel leader at a house where he was later shot and killed.

Abdusalam, also known as Commander Kiddie, was tagged as behind the kidnappings of three Italian missionaries in Mindanao and also linked to last month's bombing outside a Philippine Air Force base in Zamboanga that killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Kill Terror Leader In Troubled South

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 15, 2008) – A senior rebel leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front implicated by Philippine authorities to the spate of attacks and banditry was killed in a firefight in Zamboanga Sibugay province, officials said Sunday.

Philippine Army Major General Nehemias Pajarito said soldiers and policemen clashed with MILF leader Akiddin Abdusalam, also known as Commander Kiddie, in the town of Kabasalan and eventually killing the rebel leader tagged as behind the kidnappings of Three Italian missionaries in Mindanao.

Pajarito, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said the clash occurred Saturday afternoon, but the identity of Abdusalam was just confirmed the next day. Two of Abdusalam’s aides managed to escape, but one is believed wounded in the fighting and we are tracking him down, he said.

“We have already suspicion that it was Akiddin who was killed, but our forces on just got the confirmation today. At least we got one notorious terrorist leader and with the killing of Akiddin, we hope peace will soon return to the province,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Abdusalam was spotted near the town’s wharf at around 4. 15 p.m. Security forces tried to arrest Abdusalam, but he fought off the soldiers sparking a firefight. There were no casualties on the government side, Pajarito said.

Pajarito said the slain rebel leader was behind many banditry and piracy in Mindanao and was tagged also as one of the gang leaders that kidnapped Fr Luciano Benedetti in Zamboanga del Norte province in 1998.

And Fr Giuseppe Pierantoni in 2001 in Zamboanga del Sur and Fr Giancarlo Bossi in June last year in Zamboanga Sibugay province. All Italian priests were freed after private negotiators paid huge ransoms.

Abdusalam was also linked to last month’s bombing outside a Philippine Air Force base in Zamboanga that killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. Security forces are fighting Muslim and communist rebels in the southern Philippines, including the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

Eid Kabalu, a rebel leader, said Abdusalam was long expelled from the MILF because of his criminal past. “We no longer care about Akiddin because he was expelled long time ago from our organization because of his criminal activities. We do not tolerate criminals,” he said in a separate interview.

The MILF is the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group which is engage in peace talks with the government. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Searching For Kidnapped Italian Missioner Clash With Abu Sayyaf, MILF

BASILAN ISLAND(Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jul) – Philippine troops tracking down a kidnapped Italian Catholic priest clashed Tuesday with hundreds of suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the southern island of Basilan, officials said.

One soldier was killed and two more were injured in the fighting that erupted at around 10 a.m. in the town of Al-Barka, said Marine Colonel Ramiro Alivio, the island’s military chief.

He said the soldiers were checking reports that Father Giancarlo Bossi, kidnapped on June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province, was sighted in the town. The report turned out to be false.

“Troops were verifying reports that Father Bossi was spotted in the area, but it turned out negative. Our forces were returning to base when they came under fire and fighting broke out,” Alivio told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said as the fighting raged, the number of gunmen was also swelling until it reached 500.
Military intelligence sources in Basilan said as many as 7 militants were killed and wounded in the fighting, but there could be more casualties as battle continued well into the night.

It said MILF forces in Basilan have sided with the Abu Sayyaf group and fought against government troops.

Acting Filipino Defense chief Norberto Gonzales has told Margherita Boniver, special envoy of the Italian government, that the 57-year old priest from Milan is being held by Abu Sayyaf militants.

Boniver, who was in the Philippines last week, expressed caution about Abu Sayyaf.
“There are other theories about the kidnappers, for example, the head of the army mentioned former members of the Islamic Liberation Front,” she said.

Bossi’s group, the Rome-based Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere, doubted the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda terror network is holding the priest.Philippine military and police officials have tagged Akiddin Abdusallam, a rogue leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as mastermind in the kidnapping.

The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group has denied involvement in the kidnapping, but said Bossi’s captors were demanding “tens of millions of pesos” in ransom.

Last week, three undated photographs of Bossi in captivity were sent through cell phone to his friend Spanish priest Angel Calvo in Zamboanga City.

Military sources said a former Basilan town mayor was the source of the photos. It was unclear how the former official was able to get the photos.

Philippine authorities were investigating the authenticity of the photos, all showing Bossi sitting on a boulder surrounded by young trees. One photograph showed Bossi holding a transistor radio.

PIME said it has no contact with the kidnappers. Bossi is the third Italian priest kidnapped in the past year in the southern Philippines.

Rogue MILF rebels kidnapped Father 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 and members of the bandit group called Pentagon Gang also snatched Father Giuseppe Pierantoni as the 44-year-old from Bologna said mass in the parish church of Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur.

The priest was freed after six months in captivity in exchange for an unspecified ransom, but he claimed to have escaped from his kidnappers.

Benedetti now has been following developments in the Bossi kidnapping case closely from the start, from the regional house of PIME in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Ex-Basilan Mayor Is Source Of Bossi Photos

BASILAN ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Jul) – A former town mayor in the southern Philippine island of Basilan was said to be the source of three photographs of a kidnapped Italian Catholic priest that surfaced this week.

Philippine military and police said rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front headed by Akiddin Abdusallam are believed holding the 57-year old priest Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Military sources said the former town mayor was the source of the photos, which were sent through cell phone to Spanish priest Angel Calvo, Bossi’s friend, in Zamboanga City.

It was unknown how the former mayor was able to get the photos.

Philippine authorities were investigating the authenticity of the photos, all showing Bossi sitting on a boulder surrounded by young trees. One photograph showed Bossi holding a transistor radio.

It was unknown when the photos were taken, but his group, the Rome-based Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere (PIME) confirmed the photos.

"There are now pictures of the captivity of Father Giancarlo Bossi," said a PIME blog dedicated to Bossi.

"Taken in an undisclosed place where there are trees of a young forest. He is wearing the same clothes he wore on the day of his kidnapping. The cinelas (slippers) are red and new."

"There is (a pair of) rubber shoes too left on the ground. Containers of water suggest that they are hiking up in some higher places, may be mountains, where the air is much thin and cooler.

Other things are inside these pictures, but we do not care! We will never put them in this Blog. They make us sad. We like other pictures; those of the day of his liberation!" it said.

PIME said it has no contact with the kidnappers.

The MILF, which is monitoring the situation, said Bossi’s captors were demanding “tens of millions” of pesos in ransom.

Bossi is the third Italian priest kidnapped in the past year in the southern Philippines.

Rogue MILF rebels kidnapped Father 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 and members of the bandit group called Pentagon Gang also snatched Father Giuseppe Pierantoni as the 44-year-old from Bologna said mass in the parish church of Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur.

The priest was freed after six months in captivity in exchange for an unspecified ransom, but he claimed to have escaped from his kidnappers. (Mindanao Examiner)

Boat Used In Transporting Kidnapped Italian Missioner Recovered In Lanao del Norte

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Seach For Kidnapped Italian Prelate Continues In Philippines

Western Mindanao military Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo appeals to citizens for any information about an Italian missioner Giancarlo Bossi, who is being held by rebels in Zamboanga Sibugay province. The kidnappers are demanding one million dollars for the prelate's freedom. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Jun) – Philippine troops on Sunday continued searching for an Italian Catholic priest, two weeks after rebels seized him in the southern region of Mindanao.

Rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels kidnapped Fr Giancarlo Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME), on June 10 after celebrating mass in the coastal village of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

The MILF is also helping in the search for Bossi who was reported to have been brought to Lanao del Norte province in the Muslim autonomous region, some 300 km east of Zamboanga.

But Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said latest military reports suggest that the 57-year old missioner from Milan could still be in the jungle of Zamboanga Sibugay.

“We believed the kidnapped priest, Father Bossi, is still in Zamboanga area,” Cedo told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Cedo said the safe release of Bossi is more important and he appealed to citizens to help in the government search by providing authorities information about the priest and the kidnappers.

“The rescue and recovery of Reverend Giancarlo Bossi has been the priority of the Western Mindanao Command ever since the kidnapping,” Cedo said. “I appeal to those who have any information to help us in locating Father Bossi.”

Marine Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino, head of the government’s ad hoc joint action group, said they continue to receive information from civilians about Bossi and all these are being validated.

“There are reports that they are there (in Zamboanga Sibugay) ever since and this is being checked. There is information coming in. The reports are coming from civilian informants,” he said in a separate interview.

PIME put up an Internet diary dedicated to Bossi and there a photo believed that of the prelate in the middle of a marshland is shown and an M16 automatic rifle is visible on the foreground.

The photo raised suspicions that there is a secret negotiation going on for the safe release of Bossi, who is being held by Akiddin Abdusallam. (Juley Reyes, Joseph Danda and Juan Magtanggol)

Fr Bossi, Wala Pa Rin Balita!

Ang larawan ito ay mula sa blog site ng Pontifical Institute of Foreign Mission sa Pilipinas at sa orihinal na litrato ay nakasaad ang panagalan: Father Giancarlo Bossi. Ito kaya ay si Fr Bossi? Nakalubog pa sa putikan ang kanyang mga paa at isang M16 ang nakatutok sa kaawa-awang lalaking ito na mukhang dayuhan dahil sa maputi at mabalahibong mga binti. Hindi nagsabi ang PIME kung ang litrato ay ipinadala ng mga kidnappers bilang pruweba na buhay pa ang Italyanong pari. (Mindanao Examiner)

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Jun) – Wala pa rin balita ang mga awtoridad sa kinaroroonan ng Italian priest na si Giancarlo Bossi – dalawang linggo matapos itong dukutin ng mga rebeldeng Muslim sa lalawigan ng Zamboanga Sibugay.

Maging ang Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME) na kinabibilangan ni Bossi ay abala sa paghahanap sa pari na umano’y nasa grupo ni Akiddin Abdusallla, isang rogue commander ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Itinanggi ng MILF na may kinalaman ito pagdukot kay Bossi at nasa Abu Sayyaf na umano si Abdusallam. Ngunit tumutulong umano ang MILF na mabawi si Bossi.

Ngunit posibleng may sikretong negosasyon ang PIME o kaya ang Italian Embassy sa mga kidnappers at gamit ang MILF upang mapalaya si Bossi.

Ito ay dahil inilagay ng PIME sa isang blog ang litrato ng mga mabalahibong binti ng isang Caucasian na lalaki na nakalubog ang mga paa sa putikan sa gitna ng mangrove marshland at doon nakalagay ito: Father Giancarlo Bossi. Isang M16 automatic rifle rin ang nakatutok sa lalaki.

Hindi ipinakita sa larawan ang mga mukha ng naroon sa hindi malamang dahil.

Naunang sinabi ng Italian Embassy na handa itong makipag-negosasyon sa mga kidnappers na umano’y humiling ng isang milyong dolyar kapalit ni Bossi.

Karamihan sa mga dinukot na dayuhan sa Mindanao ay napapalaya lamang kapalit ang ransom. Bukod kay Bossi ay dinukot na rin noon sina Italian priests Luciano Benedette at Giuseppe Pierantoni na parehong napalaya matapos na iuamno’y magbayad ng malaking ransom ang pamahalaan ng Pilipinas at kanilang embahada.(Mindanao Examiner)

Rebels Demand $1-M Ransom For Kidnapped PIME Priest In Southern Philippines

PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Jun) – Philippine rebels have demanded one million dollars from the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME) in exchange for the safe release of one of its kidnapped Italian missioner in Mindanao.

The rebels, headed by Akiddin Abdusallam, a rogue leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is holding Fr Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped June 10 after celebrating mass in the coastal town of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province, local authorities said.

Rebel sources here said the kidnappers demanded the ransom from PIME, which has offices in Zamboanga City and Manila.

PIME superior Rev. Gianni Sandalo said his group will not pay ransom.

MILF senior rebel leader Mohagher Iqbal said Abdusallam is a not a member of his group, but Abu Sayyaf, blamed by Manila for the terrorism and kidnappings for ransom in the troubled region.

Iqbal also heads the MILF group which is currently negotiating peace with Philippine government.

The MILF previously said the kidnappers were demanding “tens of millions of pesos in ransom.”
Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Sison, local army commander, said troops have put up more roadblocks in Zamboanga Sibugay as part of a government rescue operation to free the 57-year old Bossi, from Milan.

But a rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said Bossi has been taken by his captors in Lanao del Norte province where MILF forces are pursuing the kidnappers. “We have forces also in the area and we are trying to get back the priest without ransom,” he said in a separate interview.

Philippine military chief General Hermogenes Esperon said troops have located the hideout of the kidnappers and that Bossi may soon be freed.

The MILF is helping in the government rescue operation, but Kabalu said the presence of army soldiers in the area where Bossi is being held could jeopardize the effort for the release of the foreigner.

“We don’t want a scenario that there will be accidental clashes between MILF fighters involved in the rescue mission and government troops pursuing the kidnappers. That will jeopardize our mission to rescue the priest,” he said.

The MILF 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.

Major General Mohammad Dolorfino, leader of the government ad hoc joint action group, said the safety of the hostage is the primary concern of the military and that there is an ongoing negotiation to secure Bossi’s freedom without paying ransom.

"Our primary consideration is Bossi's safety. We will exert all peaceful means to resolve the matter,” he said without elaborating. (Becky de Asis, Juley Reyes, Juan Magtanggol and Joseph Danda)

After Evading Troops In South RP, Kidnappers Of Italian Priest Now Demand Huge Ransom

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.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

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.

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.

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)

Muslim Rebels Destroy Escape Boat Of Italian Priest Kidnappers In South RP

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Jun) – Philippine Muslim rebels pursuing the kidnappers of an Italian priest have seized a speedboat used by the gunmen in spiriting the missioner in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, said its fighters destroyed the twin-engine speedboat used in the kidnapping of Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME) priest Giancarlo Bossi.

But there were no reports about the fate of Bossi, who was kidnapped June 10 after celebrating mass in the village of Bulawan in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Payao town by rogue MILF rebels with ties to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Philippine authorities tagged a rogue MILF leader Akiddin Abdusallam and his brother Waning Abdusallam, in the kidnapping Bossi.

The MILF is helping Filipino security forces rescue the 57-year old priest, from Milan.
The kidnappers also tried, but failed to escape to Basilan island, the military said.

Filipino troops, aided by U.S. EP-3 Orion reconnaissance plane, were searching for the hostage in the mountainous area of Naga town in Zamboanga Sibugay.

“We are tracking down the kidnappers in Zamboanga Sibugay. Our forces are combing the province in search for the priest,” A regional army chief, Major General Nehemias Pajarito, told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

The search is mainly concentrated in the mountainous area of Naga town, but the MILF said the government hunt is scaring the locals away because of indiscriminate arrest of Muslim villagers on suspicion they were involved in the kidnapping.

The MILF identified those arrested as Moner, Kaleng Kang, Nano and Atoy, all surnamed Yusop; and Malik and Merham Arajan.

“They are reportedly being grilled to make them confess that they participated in the priest’s abduction,” the chairman of the MILF’s ad hoc joint action group, Abdul Dataya, said.

General Pajarito said the men were only invited for questioning and all have been released.

“There is no indiscriminate arrest of civilians. We are only inviting some people for interview about the kidnapping and they are also release immediately. Civilians are helping us and providing information about the priest,” the general said.

The MILF 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 said it is working closely with the government through the ad-hoc joint action group to track down criminals and terrorists.

The rebel group also provided the government of a list of suspected Filipino and Indonesian terrorists operating in Mindanao. It previously helped Philippine authorities track down and arrest suspected Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the troubled region.

Early this month, MILF rebels rescued a German national and three other Filipinos kidnapped by bandits in the southern province of North Cotabato.

The four - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – were kidnapped while traveling in Pikit town.

Last year, the MILF rescued a kidnapped nine-year old girl, Donna May Ramos, in Basilan island after rebels stormed the hideout of her captors and arrested two men, who were later executed.

Rebels also freed a kidnapped social worker, Henry de Guzman, in the southern province of Lanao del Norte last year. (With a report from Joseph Danda)

Rebel Leader Denies Hand In Kidnap Of Italian Priest In Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Jun) – The chief suspect in the kidnapping of an Italian priest in the troubled southern Philippines region has denied involvement in the disappearance of Fr. Giancarlo Bossi.

Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, was taken at gunpoint by renegade members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on June 10 after celebrating mass in the remote coastal village of Bulawan in Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Police and military have tagged the brothers Akiddin and Waning Abdusallam in the kidnapping. The MILF, denying its involvement in the priest’s disappearance, disowned the two men, saying, they are Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda.

Police said Akiddin Abdusallam is the deputy commander of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Army Major General Nehemias Pajarito, in-charge for the rescue of the missioner, said Akiddin Abdusallam denied any participation in the Bossi’s kidnapping.

“Akiddin Abdusallam has denied any involvement in the kidnapping of the Italian priest. Fr. Bossi. He said he has no participation in the kidnapping. Authorities are investigating this claim,” Pajarito, commander of the First Infantry Division, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

He did not say if Abdusallam, also tagged in previous kidnappings-for-ransom and piracy in Zamboanga, contacted the military or has sent an emissary to deny all the charges against him.

The 57-year old Bossi, from Italy’s Abbiategrasso region, has been described by his PIME superior, Rev. Gianni Sandalo, as a good man. “He is well-loved by everybody. He is a good man and Filipinos call him a gentle giant because of his huge size – he is about two meters tall,” the priest, also an Italian, said in a separate interview in Zamboanga City.

Bossi, who started his missionary in Payao in 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. Giuseppe Pierantoni as the 44-year-old from Bologna said mass in the parish church of Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur.

The priest was freed after six months in captivity in exchange for an unspecified ransom, but he claimed to have escaped from his kidnappers. His companions claimed he suffered from Stockholm syndrome, a phenomenon in which a hostage begins to identify with and grow sympathetic to his or her captor. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Rebels Condemn Kidnapping Of Italian Catholic Priest In Mindanao

An undated photo of kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 Jun) – The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), on Monday condemned the kidnapping of an Italian priest and said it is helping Filipino authorities track down the hostage in Mindanao island.

Philippine authorities tagged MILF leader Akkidin Abdusalam, also known as Commander Kiddie, as behind the kidnapping Sunday of Fr. Giancarlo Bossi.

But the rebel group denied any involvement and condemned the kidnapping of the priest.

"We condemn this kidnaping. This is against humanity and the MILF has nothing to do with it. Akkidin is not a member of the MILF. He is not a member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces. We are now helping track down the kidnappers," a rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu, told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Armed men abducted the 57-year old priest after celebrating mass with villagers in the town of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province, the Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere (PIME) said.

Kabalu said his group is also looking into reports that some of Abdusalam's relatives could be members of the MILF or had something to do with the kidnapping. "We are closely working with the Philippine government for the early solution of this problem," he said.

Authorities have previously linked Abdusallam to previous kidnappings in Mindanao and a captured Abu Sayyaf militant, Omar Opik Lasal, also tagged the MILF leader to slain Jemaah Islamiya bomber Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi.

Lasal said the rebel commander provided him and al-Ghozi and another Abu Sayyaf terrorist Abdulmukin Edris safe refuge in Mindanao when they escaped from a police detention in Manila in 2003.

Al-Ghozi and Edris were later killed in separate clashes with security forces in Mindanao. Al-Ghozi, tagged as behind the 2000 bombing in Manila, had been serving a 17-year jail term for possessing explosives when he escaped.

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.

The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila and has helped authorities rescue many kidnapped victims in the troubled region. Kidnappings for ransom has become a lucrative business for rebel groups and criminal gangs in the impoverished provinces in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)