MANILA – Peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has issued instructions to Atty. Abdul Dataya, chair of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), the anti-kidnapping outfit of the MILF, to help free Australian Warren Rodwell, from the hands of his Abu Sayyaf kidnappers.
According to Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, the MILF is also working towards well-coordinated efforts to secure the immediate release of the victim. Last December 5, Rodwell was kidnapped in Ipil town by gunmen disguised as policemen.
Reports claimed that Rodwell’s kidnappers are demanding PhP1 million initial ransom money, covering “board-and-lodging fees”, and the rest, which was not specified, will be handed later.
The reports said the demand came after his kidnappers, reportedly members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), sent to his family a proof of life, in the form of a photograph sent by mobile phone.
The kidnappers have sent four photographs of Rodwell, who is being reportedly held in the province of Basilan by the ASG headed by Puruji Indama, a notorious terrorist leader blamed for the spate of bombings and kidnappings in the troubled province, several nautical miles south of Zamboanga.
