Militants free Australian hostage
Source: Agencies |
March 24, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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AL-QAIDA-LINKED militants in the southern Philippines yesterday released an emaciated-looking Australian man near a coastal town where they kidnapped him for ransom 15 months ago.
Warren Richard Rodwell was brought to police by residents of Pagadian city who saw him walking before dawn near the fishing port, where his abductors dropped him off, said local police chief Julius Munez.
Rodwell "looked OK, just tired. But he looked like he lost a lot of weight," Munez said.
In Washington, where he is on a visit, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr welcomed the news, saying the release was a joint effort by authorities in both countries, and that the focus now was on Rodwell's speedy recovery.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard praised Rodwell's family for showing "a great deal of courage and stoicism in what has been a tremendously difficult situation." "I think all Australians will be very pleased to hear this news and delighted on behalf of the Rodwell family," she said.
Rodwell was taken by helicopter chartered by the US military to the US Joint Special Operations Task Force facility inside a Philippine military camp in Zamboanga city, about 880 kilometers south of Manila, said regional military spokesman Colonel Rodrigo Gregorio.
The US military unit provides counter-terrorism advice and training to Filipino troops fighting the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Philippine security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a ransom was paid for Rodwell's release, as was usually the case with other hostages held by Abu Sayyaf over the last two decades.
The officials who dealt with the abduction said they suspected rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a former Muslim secessionist group that signed a preliminary peace accord with the government last year, Abu Sayyaf and the Al Khobar criminal gang collaborated in detaining Rodwell and negotiating for a ransom.
Warren Richard Rodwell was brought to police by residents of Pagadian city who saw him walking before dawn near the fishing port, where his abductors dropped him off, said local police chief Julius Munez.
Rodwell "looked OK, just tired. But he looked like he lost a lot of weight," Munez said.
In Washington, where he is on a visit, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr welcomed the news, saying the release was a joint effort by authorities in both countries, and that the focus now was on Rodwell's speedy recovery.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard praised Rodwell's family for showing "a great deal of courage and stoicism in what has been a tremendously difficult situation." "I think all Australians will be very pleased to hear this news and delighted on behalf of the Rodwell family," she said.
Rodwell was taken by helicopter chartered by the US military to the US Joint Special Operations Task Force facility inside a Philippine military camp in Zamboanga city, about 880 kilometers south of Manila, said regional military spokesman Colonel Rodrigo Gregorio.
The US military unit provides counter-terrorism advice and training to Filipino troops fighting the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Philippine security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a ransom was paid for Rodwell's release, as was usually the case with other hostages held by Abu Sayyaf over the last two decades.
The officials who dealt with the abduction said they suspected rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a former Muslim secessionist group that signed a preliminary peace accord with the government last year, Abu Sayyaf and the Al Khobar criminal gang collaborated in detaining Rodwell and negotiating for a ransom.
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