(NSI News Source Info) MANILA - April 3, 2009: Philippine officials said they were hopeful that Islamist militants holding two European Red Cross employees would soon release them after the rebels, who have come under military pressure, freed a Filipina worker.
Andreas Notter, a 38-year-old Swiss national who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf rebels, is seen in the Philippines in this video grab made available February 6, 2009. Three aid workers, including two Europeans, kidnapped nearly four weeks ago on a remote Philippine island appeared in good condition in video footage broadcast by local television on Friday. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers were shown talking to an unidentified man while standing in a forested area, believed to be in the interior of southern Jolo island.
The Abu Sayaf group has been holding Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for two-and half months in the southern Philippines. On Thursday they freed Filipina Red Cross engineer Mary Jean Lacaba.
"The group that is left there is now numbering about half of what they used to be, they apparently are suffering from a depletion of many of their resources," Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno told a news conference on Friday.
"The efforts of our uniformed personnel on the ground are starting to bear fruit," Puno said. "Hopefully, the Abu Sayyaf will start to realise it is the better part of prudence and discretion to just release the hostages, and if possible save themselves."
Puno reiterated no ransom was given in exchange for Lacaba's freedom. Lacaba was reunited with her family at an airbase in the southern port city of Zamboanga on Friday after about 2½ months of captivity in the rebels' mountain lair.
She was handed over to the provincial vice-governor by the rebels on Thursday evening."I believe that the kidnappers are now more aware of the limitations that they face and the wisdom of releasing the hostages than they were a week ago," Puno said.
The three ICRC workers were abducted on Jan. 15 near the capitol and shortly after a visit to a local prison where the neutral humanitarian agency was funding a water project.
No fighting has erupted so far this week between the rebels and government troops and local government officials were facilitating negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf, Puno said.
Alain Aeschlimann, ICRC's operations chief for east Asia, southeast Asia and the Pacific, issued another appeal late on Thursday for the unconditional release of the remaining hostages.
"The nightmare of this abduction is not over," Aeschlimann said in a statement. "Once again, we ask that they remain unharmed."
The Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent militant group based on southern Jolo island and nearby Basilan, had earlier demanded that troops relax the tight cordon they were keeping around the rebel hideout before talks for the hostages' release could start -- which the government agreed to.
The rebel group, with links to the Southeast Asian regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah and to al Qaeda, has been blamed for the worst terrorist attack in the Philippines, the bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that killed 100 people.
An Abu Sayyaf rebel is seen in the Philippines in this video grab made available February 6, 2009. Three aid workers, including two Europeans, kidnapped nearly four weeks ago on a remote Philippine island appeared in good condition in video footage broadcast by local television on Friday. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers, kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf rebels, were shown talking to an unidentified man while standing in a forested area, believed to be in the interior of southern Jolo island.
It is also notorious for high-profile kidnappings and large ransoms and has a history of beheading captives.
On 10 April 2000, two executive suite rooms were booked on the 11th floor of the Hyatt Kota Kinabalu International Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The rooms were registered under the names of Yussof Hamdan and Sairin Karno, both well known Umno Sabah heavyweights. Yussof and Sairin, however, did not occupy the rooms. The occupants were six Abu Sayyaf Group leaders from Jolo, the Southern Philippines, as follows:
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2. Mujib Susukan
3. Radulan Sujiron
4. Ernest Pacuno
5. Samil Jumaani
6. Unknown
These six, who are key personalities of the Abu Sayyaf Group, checked out of their rooms on the 17th of April.
For seven days, these guests from Jolo were entertained by the local Umno Sabah heavyweights and were seen openly in the Coffee House and The Shenanigans Pub of the Hyatt Kota Kinabalu International Hotel. Sairin Karno, Yussof Hamdan, Nasir Sakaran and even Yong Teck Lee were seen entertaining these Abu Sayyaf leaders.
On 23 April 2000, one week after leaving Kota Kinabalu, this same group of people from the Abu Sayyaf Group conducted a raid on Sipadan and took 21 hostages.
These leaders from the Abu Sayyaf Group were in Kota Kinabalu as guests of Umno Sabah one week before the raid in Sipadan. What were they doing with the Umno heavyweights and the former Chief Minister, Yong Teck Lee?
Commander Robot carries a Malaysian blue identity card and once worked as a bodyguard for Yong Teck Lee. He was also a long time resident of Lahad Datu, Sabah.
Mujib Susukan, another Abu Sayyaf heavyweight, also has a Malaysian blue identity card and once worked for the Yong family in the Yong Asia Plantation in Lahad Datu.
On 15 July 2000, Yong Teck Lee, Aziz Samsuddin and Sairin Karno flew into Zamboanga on a Sabah Air flight to meet Aventajado. Yong had in his possession USD3 million in USD100 bank notes. Yong Teck Lee, the bag carrier and chief negotiator with the Abu Sayyaf Group, reported that the USD3 million cash in cash somehow got misplaced at the Zamboanga Airport. The money disappeared and was never seen again since.
Two days later, a Sabah Air flight took off from Kota Kinabalu with another USD3 million in cash, which this time arrived safely and which Yong Teck Lee handed over to the Filipino generals who were negotiating with the Abu Sayyaf Group the release of the 21 Sipadan hostages.
After handing over the money Yong Teck Lee and gang return to Kota Kinabalu on the 18th of July.