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.