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→European tourists' abductors remain unknown
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==Abducted Dutch, Swiss photographers still in Tawi-Tawi province== | |||
*Source: http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20120208050824 | |||
*Wednesday, February 08, 2012 06:08:24 PM | |||
:by Ely Dumaboc | |||
Police released to the Mindanao Examiner photos of abducted Dutch and a Swiss wildlife photogaphers Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland, and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, of Switzerland. The duo was taken by gunmen on February 1, 2012 in the town of Panglima Sugala in Tawi-Tawi province in the southern Philippines. (Ely Dumaboc) | |||
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 8, 2012) – Philippine authorities said gunmen are still holding an abducted Dutch and a Swiss wildlife photographers in the remote southern province of Tawi-Tawi. | |||
Authorities said Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, of Switzerland, are still being held in captivity in one of dozens of islands in the Muslim province. | |||
Five gunmen seized the two photographers along with a Filipino guide, Ivan Sadinas, 35, who managed to escape from the gang in the town of Panglima Sugala. Police said the foreigners, who arrived in the province late last month, were taking photographs of wild birds when gunmen seized them. | |||
There were unconfirmed reports that the duo was brought to Sulu province and that another report claimed one of the hostages was rescued or freed. Police and military denied the reports. | |||
The military’s Western Mindanao Command branded the report as ‘disinformation.’ There was no truth to that report that one of the victims was rescued or freed. It was a disinformation,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner. | |||
Police in Tawi-Tawi also denied the report. | |||
“They are still here in Tawi-Tawi and the operation is continuing and wanted this problem resolve as soon as possible,” Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, the provincial police chief, said in a separate interview. | |||
He said a local gang is holding Horn and Vinciguerre. “They were abducted by locals and not the Abu Sayyaf,” he said when asked by reporters if the al-Qaeda-linked terror group was behind the abduction. | |||
Jocson, accompanied by police commandos, launched a rescue operation on Tuesday, but returned empty handed later in the night. “We just came down from the mountain and there were no traces of the hostages,” he said. | |||
Manila condemned the abduction of the foreigners and ordered authorities to resolve the crisis immediately. | |||
The Aquino government also urged foreign tourists to coordinate with their own embassies regarding advisories on conditions that may affect their travel and other arrangements while visiting the Philippines. | |||
“We condemn the abduction; and the national and local governments, as well as all agencies concerned, are working to ensure the resolution of the situation, the recovery and release of the men who remain in the hands of their captors, and the bringing to justice of the lawless elements involved,” said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte. | |||
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but Abu Sayyaf militants are known to operate in the province where they kidnapped a Malaysian fish trader Pang Choon Pong in October last year and is still being held in captivity. | |||
Abu Sayyaf militants also kidnapped two Malaysian seaweed farm workers Vui Chung, 42, and his cousin Lai Wing Chau, 33, in Tawi-Tawi in February 2010 and were freed later in the same year after their families paid some 2 million ringgits. | |||
The group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya had also kidnapped 21 mostly Western holidaymakers in Sabah’s resort island of Sipadan in 2001 and brought them by boat to the southern Philippines. The hostages were then ransomed off to Malaysia and Libya - which negotiated for their release - for millions of dollars. | |||
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two Malaysians, a Japanese man, an Indian national married to a Filipina, an Australian citizen and three Filipinos in the restive southern region. | |||
==European tourists' abductors remain unknown== | ==European tourists' abductors remain unknown== | ||
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2012/02/07/european-tourists-abductors-remain-unknown-204746 | *Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2012/02/07/european-tourists-abductors-remain-unknown-204746 | ||
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Jocson added that the twin-engine motorized banca used by the suspects were recovered in the shore of Languyan town. | Jocson added that the twin-engine motorized banca used by the suspects were recovered in the shore of Languyan town. | ||
==DOT weighs in on abducted European tourists, says "The Tawi-Tawi incident could have been avoided had the visitors taken necessary precautions"== | ==DOT weighs in on abducted European tourists, says "The Tawi-Tawi incident could have been avoided had the visitors taken necessary precautions"== | ||