Military steps up pressure on RP kidnappers<\/p>\n
JOLO, Philippines (Agencies): The Philippine military on
\nFriday stepped up pressure on extremists group holding Western
\nand Asian hostages on a southern island as negotiators pressed on
\nwith efforts to peacefully resolve the 104-day-old crisis.<\/p>\n
Two OV-10 planes conducted a 30-minute \"persuasion flight\"
\nover Jolo island, Sulu province, 1,000 kilometers south of
\nManila, for the first time since the hostage drama began more
\nthan three months ago.<\/p>\n
A police intelligence source said the planes mainly flew over
\nTalipao town, where the Western and Asian hostages were now being
\nkept in one hideout by the Abu Sayyaf extremists.<\/p>\n
\"The persuasion flights are apparently aimed at adding
\npressure on the Abu Sayyaf to free their hostages,\" the police
\nsource told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). \"It's a show of
\nforce.\"<\/p>\n
The official, who requested anonymity, said the military was
\nalso planning to re-deploy one battalion of marines to the
\nisland. The army has already dispatched 400 soldiers to four
\ncheckpoints in Talipao and the nearby town of Patikul.<\/p>\n
Police and soldiers set up roadblocks at entry points to Jolo
\ntown, checking vehicles for firearms to try to prevent members of
\nthe Abu Sayyaf group from entering.<\/p>\n
Senior Superintendent Candido Casimiro, provincial police
\nchief, said: \"We have tightened security against terrorists who
\nattack hapless civilians, especially in Jolo town.<\/p>\n
\"There is a threat by kidnap-for-ransom groups to abduct
\nchildren of affluent families studying here.\"<\/p>\n
Other potential kidnap targets, such as foreign and local
\njournalists covering the hostage crisis, have largely left after
\nthe army said it could not guarantee their safety.<\/p>\n
Jolo town police chief Mohammad Nur Alamea and military
\nofficial Col. Rasulan Salapuddin separately said authorities had
\nalso banned anyone but government security forces from wearing
\ncamouflage.<\/p>\n
Military fatigues are popular among local residents, including
\nkidnap gangs.<\/p>\n
The hostage crisis began on April 23 when 21 foreign and local
\nhostages were seized by the Abu Sayyaf from the resort of
\nSipadan, controlled by Malaysia, and brought to Jolo island by
\nboat.<\/p>\n
The rebels separated the Westerners from the Asians in June to
\nprevent a military rescue operation, but recently re-united them
\nin a move believed to be in preparation for their release.<\/p>\n
Several other foreign and local hostages, including
\njournalists covering the crisis, were later seized.<\/p>\n
Six Malaysians, two Germans and five Filipino hostages have
\nsince been released amid reports of hefty ransoms.<\/p>\n
Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar has blamed the media
\nfor hampering efforts to resolve the hostage crisis in the
\nsouthern Philippines, a senior Filipino diplomat said Friday.<\/p>\n
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja said the subject
\nwas raised in discussions on the effects of international media
\non security issues during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in
\nBangkok last month.<\/p>\n
The press coverage of the abduction by Abu Sayyaf Muslim
\nextremists of more than a dozen foreign and local hostages on
\nsouthern Jolo island showed the negative impact of the media in
\nthe age of globalization, Baja quoted Jayakumar as saying.<\/p>\n
The press coverage had \"complicated negotiations and limited
\ngovernment courses of actions and options,\" Jayakumar said.<\/p>\n
In Beirut, a leading newspaper launched a campaign on Friday
\nto collect ransom money for a Lebanese-born woman held hostage by
\nPhilippine rebels for more than three months.<\/p>\n
An-Nahar published a full-page appeal with the headline
\n\"Contribute to her rescue\" placed above a picture of an
\nexhausted-looking Marie Moarbis standing near a masked rebel.<\/p>\n
The advertisement said An-Nahar had already put in $10,000
\ninto a special bank account.<\/p>\n
Moarbis, who was granted French citizenship during her
\ncaptivity, is one of 21 people kidnapped from a Malaysian resort
\nisland on April 23 by separatist Abu Sayyaf rebels.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/military-steps-up-pressure-on-rp-kidnappers-1447893297",
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