Talks underway to win release of Indonesian seamen
Talks underway to win release of Indonesian seamen
Agence France-Presse, Manila
Talks are underway to win the freedom of three Indonesian seamen abducted last week in Philippine waters by unknown gunmen, the military said on Tuesday.
"The identities of the kidnappers are now known to us. Their relatives are the ones negotiating with them," southern Philippines military chief Lt.Gen. Ernesto Carolina said over local radio.
The military commander of Jolo island, Col. Romeo Tolentino, said the kidnappers were a 20-member bandit group led by a man called Malud Mahili. The group was holding the three near Luuk town on Jolo, he said.
The gunmen boarded a tugboat hauling a coal-laden barge near the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan island on June 17 and seized the vessel's four Indonesian officers.
The second officer, Ferdinan Joel, escaped and turned up on Jolo, another Abu Sayyaf stronghold, two days later.
The gunmen are still holding the boat's skipper Muntu Jacobus Winowatan, chief officer Julkifli and chief engineer Pieter Lerrech.
Tolentino said Mahili's group were "small time opportunists who wanted to have a share of whatever money they could get from the kidnapping."
The authorities have previously said they suspected the kidnappers were Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas, and they have not issued a ransom demand for the three, who are Muslims.
Meanwhile, a military mole in the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla organization survived a firefight last week and emerged on Tuesday to collect a five million peso (US$100,000) Philippine government reward for the presumed death of rebel leader Abu Sabaya.
Gardo Ibrahim "was instrumental in giving timely information" that helped commandos intercept a motor boat carrying Abu Sabaya and his rebel unit off the southern island of Mindanao last week, military chief of staff Gen.Roy Cimatu said.
President Gloria Arroyo praised the help of the civilian population that helped the military track down Sabaya, held responsible for a series of kidnappings and the deaths of two U.S. hostages.
"This only goes to show that when the local populace supports the government, we are able to move forward," Arroyo said in a speech at Malacanang presidential palace, where officials say the military's spy received a check for five million pesos.
Abu Sabaya, along with two others, were believed to have sustained fatal wounds before falling into shark-infested waters near the town of Sibuco on Friday. Four others were captured in the operation.
Ibrahim "was with the group in the boat. He is a witness to how Sabaya was shot and killed," Cimatu said, as he accompanied Ibrahim to see Arroyo.
"Madam president, there were actually nine people in the boat. Two were our informers and one of them is with us now," Cimatu said.
He did not identify the other informer, or say what had happened to this second person.
The U.S. government had offered up to US$ 5 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of the four and of Abu Sabaya, the preferred alias of the rebel leader born as Aldam Tilao.