Red Cross warned against paying ransom to Philippines kidnappers
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) — A Philippine official on Friday warned the Red Cross against paying a ransom to gunmen who are holding Italian, Swiss and Filipino staff members.
"Any ransom paid to the kidnappers will only be used to buy new weapons and that will be a big problem for us," said Abdusakur Tan, governor of the Sulu group of islands where the three aid workers were snatched two weeks ago during a humanitarian mission.
Sulu vice-governor Nur-Ana Sahidulla, who is also the top official for the Philippines chapter of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the area, began negotiations to win their freedom on Wednesday when she visited the three captives at the gunmen's hideout.
Andreas Notter of Switzerland, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipina Mary-Jean Lacaba are understood to be in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.
The small group of Islamists has been tagged by the US State Department as a "terrorist" group and has been blamed for many kidnappings of westerners and bombings of Christian targets over the past 18 years.
Government forces on the main Sulu island of Jolo have suspended pursuit operations to allow Sahidulla to conduct talks.
Tan, who has been named by President Gloria Arroyo to head a "crisis committee" to handle the negotiations said no money would be forthcoming from the Philippines to secure the release of the three.
"We will not pay ransom to the kidnappers," he said.
Local sources said Sahidulla met the captives in a village near the Jolo town of Indanan on Wednesday, and that among the kidnappers were Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad and Abu Pula.
Sahidulla has denied that any ransom demand was made.
Jolo police sources said the two took custody of the Red Cross staff from another group of gunmen, who included a dismissed Jolo jail guard.
The Red Cross has confirmed the captives' meeting with Sahidulla but declined to discuss other details, saying it did not want to jeopardise the trio's safety.
