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Friday, November 04, 2004
Afghan rebels say they may spare Pinoy hostage
MANILA -- Afghan militants holding a Filipino diplomat and two other United Nations (UN) workers hostage said Wednesday they may spare him from execution because the Philippines has no troops in Afghanistan.
The militants who had earlier threatened to execute the three hostages if their demands were not met pushed back their deadline to Wednesday midnight.
The militants are also urging the Afghan government to acknowledge it is in talks with the group--a new demand alongside the withdrawal of British troops and the United Nations from the country.
Catholic bishops in the Philippines on Wednesday called on the Filipinos to pray for the safe release of UN worker Angelito Nayan, who is being held captive by a Taliban splinter group together with Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo.
They were abducted in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday last week.
A statement from Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Fernando Capalla asked Wednesday for continued prayers for the safety of the three hostages.
The statement also asked for prayers "for enlightenment for the negotiators and for the spirit of love to prevail in the hearts and minds of the abductors."
Capalla said prayer is the only thing that will sustain the nation when all human efforts have been exhausted for Nayan's release.
"We continue to believe that in these troubled times we are living, prayer sustains us even when all other human efforts seem to fail, prayer makes us remember that we are all children of the same God," said Capalla.
Nayan's relatives earlier appealed to his abductors to release him in the spirit of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month being observed by Muslims all over the world.
Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, released a videotape on Sunday showing the frightened captives pleading for their freedom.
Akbar Agha, the group's purported leader, said Wednesday it had received a call from "the authorities."
"We will not contact them as it will look as if we are the ones who need talks. They will have to approach us," Agha said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We want the Afghan government and the U.N. to officially declare that they are in contact with us," he said. "We have set 12 midnight as the deadline."
Officials at the UN and in the Afghan government, none of whom have confirmed any contact so far, could not be reached immediately.
The Philippine government has sent diplomats to Kabul, but has imposed a news blackout.
Agha suggested Nayan might be spared.
"There will be a death penalty for those who are aggressors," he said.
"Britain and Kosovo have troops in Afghanistan, and they are aggressors. But Philippines does not have forces so it is not an aggressor country."
Afghan officials suspect that warlords or criminal groups were also involved in the bold daylight snatch and have launched a search operation in the capital and surrounding countryside.
An Afghan security official said the search for the trio had expanded from Kabul and the neighboring Paghman valley to Wardak province, immediately to the west.
Police units deployed Tuesday evening "are searching there in two or three places," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The Afghan Interior Ministry has also said its initiatives to secure the hostages' freedom are progressing, but has denied it is in contact with the kidnappers.
All three hostages were in Afghanistan to help manage its Oct. 9 presidential election.
US-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai, who has condemned the latest kidnapping, secured a majority of the votes, and was to be confirmed as the country's first popularly chosen leader at a ceremony later Wednesday. (AP/With Marie Neri)
(November 4, 2004 issue)
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