RP diplomats arrive in Kabul

RP diplomats arrive in Kabul

PHILIPPINES: Philippine diplomats have arrived in Afghanistan's capital to help secure the release of a Filipino kidnapped along with two other United Nations election workers by unidentified gunmen last week, officials said on Sunday.

Philippine Ambassador to Pakistan Jorge Arizabal and his staff will "work closely" with UN and Afghan authorities on the negotiation process, Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said.

There was no word if UN authorities had established contact with the kidnappers of Angelito Nayan, a Philippine foreign service officer working for the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.

Nayan was abducted with the two other UN election workers - Shqipe Habibi of Kosovo and Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland - from their UN vehicle by gunmen in Kabul on Thursday.

A Taliban splinter group has claimed responsibility for the abductions and threatened to execute the captives unless Afghan prisoners are released from U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, and Britain withdraws its troops from Afghanistan.

More than 300 Filipinos in Afghanistan, including 37 Filipinos working for UN agencies, have been advised to limit their movements following the abductions, Seguis said.--AP