Manila opposing kidnap dealings

Manila opposing kidnap dealings

MANILA (Reuters): The superiors of kidnapped Italian priest Luciano Benedetti should stop dealing with self-appointed negotiators, a top Philippine law enforcement official said on Friday.

Panfilo Lacson, head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, said money given to such negotiators had not helped facilitate the safe release of Benedetti.

"Negotiating with them is useless because in spite of their payments, Benedetti's kidnappers have not released him," Lacson said in a radio interview.

Lacson was reacting to reports that Benedetti's superiors already had paid the abductors 350,000 pesos (US$8,750) to cover the priest's "board and lodging" while in captivity.