Manila: A former separatist rebel group that forged a pro-autonomy peace settlement with the Philippines government in 1996 has rescued three of six foreign hostages held by militants in the south, a local paper said.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) took two Swiss nationals and a Dutchman from the Abu Sayyaf Group after days of clashes in the jungles of Patikul, said the Manila Standard.
It is not known if Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani, bureau chief of Dubai-based Al Arabiya news network, will be released.
He was kidnapped with two Filipino cameramen, Ramelito Vela and Rolando Letrero, in Sulu’s south on June 12, 2012. The Abu Sayyaf faction, allegedly led by Radullan Sahiron, released Atyani’s Filipino companions, not to the MNLF, but to another group, on February 2, 2012.
“We have custody of three foreigners. They [the hostages] will be turned over to the government as soon as MNLF chairman Nur Misuari arrives from Egypt this week,” MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla told Manila Standard.
“There are lots of groups, including politicians, who want to spoil what we did,” Fontanilla said, but did not give details.
Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra and Dutchman Ewold Horn were kidnapped while on a bird-watching expedition in Tawi-Tawi in February 2012.
