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Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Top RP envoy appeals for Tarongoy's release
MANILA -- A top Philippine diplomat appealed to Iraqi militants for the release of a Filipino kidnapped earlier this month in Baghdad, as President Arroyo urged all sectors to refrain from exploiting the abduction for partisan interests.
Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, in an interview Sunday with Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera at its studios in Doha, Qatar, urged the kidnappers to allow accountant Robert Tarongoy, 31, to "return to his family."
Romulo called on the kidnappers for forgiveness during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, which is expected to end Saturday, to free his countryman.
"At this time of Ramadan when we find in our hearts the value of life, and we can find forgiveness in our hearts...we appeal for the release of Robert Tarongoy," the foreign secretary said.
President Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Monday that government was exhausting all measures to secure the safe release of Tarongoy and United Nations (UN) election worker Angelito Nayan, who was kidnapped in Kabul, Afghanistan on Oct. 28.
He said Arroyo welcomed the reported start of talks with suspected Muslim insurgents holding Nayan, Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo.
Tarongoy, on the other hand, was abducted Nov. 1 along with five others--an unidentified American and three Iraqis--by armed assailants who stormed the two-story compound of the company they worked for, the Riyadh-based Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co.
Not released
Arabic TV Al-Jazeera, which reported Friday that Tarongoy and the Nepalese man, Inus Dewari, had been freed, retracted its report Sunday, saying only the Nepalese was released.
The American also remains missing, while two of the Iraqi guards have earlier been released.
Romulo has traveled to the Middle East hoping to secure the release of Tarongoy, the second Filipino to be abducted in Iraq since US-led forces invaded the country in March 2003.
Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was freed July 22 after being held hostage for about two weeks by Iraqi insurgents.
De la Cruz was released after the Philippine government granted the militants' demand for the early withdrawal of a small peacekeeping contingent from Iraq, a decision strongly criticized by the United States and other allies but which won praise at home.
Another Philippine diplomat in Iraq, Eric Endaya, has been in talks with various contacts, including Tarongoy's employer, in a bid to locate the captive.
Some of the contacts helped secure de la Cruz's release.
Romulo said his country is urging its citizens not to travel to Iraq, a country where 4,000 Filipinos work in US military camps, mostly as maintenance workers and cooks.
Some 2,000 Filipinos have entered Iraq since a ban on travel to the Arab country was imposed following de la Cruz's release.
"We are saying they should remain at homes and not to go to Iraq for their safety," the foreign secretary said.
US officials have urged the Philippines not to grant any concessions to Tarongoy's kidnappers, according to a Filipino official.
Afghan talks
Philippine officials are also working desperately to secure the release of Nayan in Afghanistan, and welcomed the start of talks with Muslim insurgents holding him and two others captive.
Spokesmen for the purported abductors said Sunday they were in talks via intermediaries with Afghan government negotiators for the possible release of the hostages, who were seized in Kabul on Oct. 28.
The Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, gave a list of 26 prisoners, some possibly in US custody at Guantanamo Bay, they want freed in exchange for the three UN workers, said Ishaq Manzoor, one of several men claiming to speak for the kidnappers.
The kidnappers also demanded the withdrawal of UN troops from Afghanistan.
The Philippine foreign affairs department said negotiations and extensions granted by the abductors for negotiators to fulfill their demands were cause for optimism.
"This is definitely good news to us. We are optimistic since they have been giving us extensions," department spokesman Gilbert Asuque said.
President spokesman Bunye said all they could do was to "continue to pray and hope for the best."
He urged all sectors to pray for the safe release of the hostages.
Constant touch
President Arroyo is in constant touch with relatives of both Nayan and Tarongoy, who reiterated pleas Monday for their release, stressing the captives were not involved in the conflicts in the two countries and only wanted to help Muslims.
"My brother, Angelito, went to help the people of Afghanistan as a volunteer, not to side with any political faction or for any vested interest," Nayan's sister, Grace, said in a statement.
"Please, we beg you, please set him free," she said.
Communications Director Silvestre Afable Jr. said Arroyo "has been seeing the family and talking to them and she has been comforting them."
He begged for understanding of government's move to limit the release of information concerning the two kidnappings, as the cases are very sensitive.
"We would like to call on all sectors and all partisan quarters to join hands with the families and unite in calling for the safe release of the hostages," Afable said.
Afable said special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu is in Baghdad overseeing efforts to free Tarongoy.
Romulo and Foreign Undersecretary Jose Brillantes Jr., on the other hand, are in Afghanistan to closely monitor developments there, he added. (AP/With Sunnex Luzon)
(November 9, 2004 issue)
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