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Monday, November 08, 2004
Arroyo asks Muslim leaders' help on hostages
MANILA -- President Arroyo urged Muslim leaders on Sunday to help secure the freedom of two Filipinos kidnapped by suspected militants in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying the captives were not involved in the conflicts in the two countries.
Arroyo made the appeal as dozens of relatives, friends and left-wing activists separately held prayers and a motorcade for the safety of United Nations (UN) elections worker Angelito Nayan, who was seized in Kabul, and Robert Tarongoy, a Filipino accountant abducted in Baghdad.
"I appeal to the leaders of the Islamic world to help the Philippines secure the release of two Filipino civilians caught in a conflict not of their making," Arroyo said in a statement Sunday.
Aside from the appeal, no new information about Nayan and Tarongoy was forthcoming from administration officials.
Arroyo spokesman Ignacio Bunye on Sunday just reiterated calls to Filipinos to pray for the safety of Tarongoy and Nayan and their fellow victims.
Bunye said Arroyo is also asking the Muslim community to help pray for the release of the hostages.
Arroyo's appeal to Muslim leaders to help work out release of Nayan and Tarongoy was also made late Saturday before Libyan diplomats.
"I know that Islam does not condone nor encourage such abductions," Arroyo said, repeating the pleas of the captives' families for their release in the spirit of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Government is baffled over the fate of Tarongoy following reports from Arabic TV Al-Jazeera that he has been released.
On Friday, Al-Jazeera reported that Tarongoy and a Nepalese kidnapped last Monday have been freed by their captors.
Government officials said they still could not confirm the report and has not found the Filipino worker.
Gunmen seized Tarongoy, along with an American, a Nepalese and three Iraqis from the Baghdad compound of their Saudi company, which caters food to American troops.
Two of the Iraqis have been freed.
A Philippine diplomat in Iraq, Eric Endaya, was in talks with his contacts, including Tarongoy's employer, in a bid to locate the captive.
Some of the contacts helped secure the release of Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, who was seized by Iraqi insurgents in July, the foreign affairs department said.
De la Cruz was freed by the insurgents after Arroyo granted their demand for the early withdrawal of a small peacekeeping contingent from Iraq, a decision that was strongly criticized by the United States and other allies but won praise at home.
US officials have urged the Philippines not to grant any concessions to Tarongoy's kidnappers, according to a Filipino official.
Militants threatening to kill Nayan and two other UN hostages, meanwhile, said on Sunday that Afghan and UN officials met with go-betweens acting for the kidnappers at a secret location in southern Afghanistan.
Sadir Momin, a purported militant spokesman, said the talks could continue until Monday if a solution cannot be quickly found. The militants are demanding a UN pullout from Afghanistan and the release of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of Nayan, Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo who were seized on Oct. 28. (AP/With JMR)
(November 8, 2004 issue)
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