| JOURNALISTS'
ABDUCTION AIMED AT EMBARASSING PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT JOLO, Philippines, July 29 (AFP) - Two Filipino television journalists held
by Muslim gunmen for five days on this southern Philippine island said on Saturday their
abduction was intended to embarrass the government and raise money for arms.
ABS-CBN cameraman Perceival
Cuenca and researcher Maan Macapagal said they were returning to Jolo town from
interviewing Abu Sayyaf commanders on Monday when they were snatched at gunpoint by
several men.
The group was believed to be a
splinter unit from the Abu Sayyaf, who are holding 17 European and Asian hostages in
another camp.
Macapagal said the armed men
told them they were snatched because they wanted to raise money for arms ahead of planned
attack by the Philippine army on the group after all the hostages are freed.
"They admitted that they
were raising money because they know that after all hostages are freed there will be a
military operation," Macapagal said during an interview aired by ABS-CBN television,
hours after they were released.
Cuenca said he was told by the
leader of their abductors that they also wanted to "embarrass" Abdusakur Tan,
the governor of Sulu province that includes Jolo, one of the poorest areas in the
Philippines.
"They are angry with
Governor Tan, they used us to embarrass Tan," Cuenca said.
He said the armed men accused
the governor of not doing enough to develop the island.
The two were freed early
Saturday after an Abu Sayyaf senior leader reportedly convinced their captors to turn them
over without a ransom. Sources however said six million pesos (136,000 dollars) was paid
to secure them.
The gunmen did not confiscate
their equipment, but did take some loose cash which they then used to buy food, Macapagal
said.
They said villagers near the
camp were aware they had been taken as hostages and would occasionally bring them food,
but did not seem surprised at their presence.
Footage taken by Cuenca of his
captors showed men wearing mismatched fatigues and masks over their faces.
They were shown held captive in
a small hut with no doors. Both appeared well and said they were not mistreated by their
captors during their five-day ordeal.
Cuence said that on the evening
before they were freed shooting broke out between their captors and another rival Abu
Sayyaf splinter group, who wanted to take them. No one was reported injured and they were
collected by an emissary at day break.
The Abu Sayyaf are still
holding 17 hostages, including two Germans, five French nationals, three Malaysians, two
Finns, two South Africans, a Franco-Lebanese woman, and two Filipinos.
The rebel group is one of a
number of Muslim separatist units that are fighting for an independent homeland in the
south of the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines.
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