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Saturday, June 02, 2007
Military names 2 in Pikit abduction
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Authorities Friday said they have the identities of the suspects in the kidnapping Thursday of a German national and his three companions in Pikit, North Cotabato.
Colonel Pedro Soria, chief of the Army's 602nd Infantry Division, said they already have the names of all eight suspects and identified two as Datukan and Abdul Samad.
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The victims -- Thomas Wallraf of Cologne, Germany, his wife Mae Sharon Jackson, and their companions Consuelo San Juan and Diego Daniel Jr. -- were turned over to the Army division around 6 p.m. Thursday.
They were then handed over to the International Monitoring Team, which has its headquarters in Cotabato City and which turned over the four hostages to Major General Ben Mohammad Dolorfino at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The Malaysian-led IMT is the country to oversee a standing ceasefire agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government.
Dolorfino is head of the military's National Capital Region Command (NCRcom) and co-chairs the Government-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Joint Action Group that supervises government and MILF operations in Mindanao.
Armed men snatched the victims Thursday morning in Barangay Batulawan in Pikit town but pursuit operations by government forces and blockades set up by the MILF forced the kidnappers to abandon their captives hours later.
Inspector Elias Dandan, Pikit police chief, said the armed men belong to a small group of kidnappers.
Wallraf and his companions were in the area reportedly in search for nickel babbitts.
Soria thanked the Moro rebels for their help in the safe release of the victims.
Malaysia is brokering peace negotiations between the government and the Moro rebels. The talks are currently stalled by the ticklish ancestral domain issue, which includes territory and governance.
MILF officials said their help to release the kidnap victims reflect their interest and commitment to the peace process.
In 2002, the government and the MILF signed a communiqué for Moro rebels to flush out criminals hiding in their strongholds. (BSS/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (June 2, 2007 issue)
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