Two Indonesians held hostage in RP freed
Two Indonesians held hostage in RP freed
Agence France-Presse, Zamboanga, Philippines
Philippine troops on Sunday rescued two Indonesian seamen
being held by Muslim militants on the southern Philippine island
of Jolo, the military said.
Armed forces chief Gen. Efren Abu told DZBB radio in Manila
the military hoped to free a third Indonesian kidnapped by the
gunmen in the next few days.
He said the hostages were freed after troops clashed with the
gunmen at dawn on Jolo, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf
group of Islamic militants.
The three Indonesians -- Ahmad Resmiyadi, Yamin Labaso and
Erikson Hutagaol -- were seized after their boat was attacked off
Malaysia's Sabah region by a group calling itself the Jamiat al-
Islamiah of Southern Mindanao.
The group is believed to be affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf,
which in turn has been linked by the United States and Philippine
governments to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Labaso, 28, and Hutagaol, 23, were the two rescued, the
military said.
Intelligence gathered since the abduction in March led troops
to a "temporary encampment of the Abu Sayyaf group" late on
Saturday, the military said.
A group of U.S.-trained special forces raided the camp near
the remote town of Indanan around dawn on Sunday, the military
said.
The two were taken to military brigade headquarters in Jolo
where they were given a medical check-up and debriefing. They
were due to be airlifted to the military's southern headquarters
in the nearby port of Zamboanga where they were expected to meet
Indonesian diplomats, the military said.
Last month Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked
President Gloria Arroyo for help in rescuing the three.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the militants
had demanded a US$790,000 ransom from the hostages' employer.
The Abu Sayyaf has been on the run from Filipino troops in the
southern Philippines since 2000, when they made international
headlines after abducting and ransoming off dozens of European
hostages.
The rebels seized a group of Filipinos and three Americans
from a Philippine resort island the following year. Two of the
Americans were later killed.
Apart from kidnappings, the Abu Sayyaf is also blamed for the
Philippines' worst terrorist bombings, including a firebomb on a
ferry that killed more than 100 people in Manila Bay last year.
Security analysts have said that while the Abu Sayyaf may be
on the run it could also be building links with foreign militants
from the Jamaah Islamiyah regional terror network who have sought
refuge in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
Last week the Philippines' deputy national security adviser,
Virtus Gil, said two Indonesians linked to the Bali bombings in
2002 had been spotted in Mindanao.