Internal conflict among Abus derailing Vagni release

MANILA, Philippines – Internal conflict in the Abu Sayyaf has been derailing efforts to rescue International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker Eugenio Vagni, Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said.

In an ambush interview yesterday, Gordon said a faction in the Abu Sayyaf wants a ransom payment for Vagni’s release.

“The others, the older ones, want it stopped. But there are some who want to earn money.”

The bandit group had abducted Vagni and fellow ICRC workers Andreas Notter and Mary Jean Lacaba last Jan. 15 in Indanan, Sulu.

Lacaba and Notter were released last April, with government and Red Cross officials insisting that no ransom payment was made.

Gordon noted they are “very concerned” over Vagni’s safety due to recent attacks against the military and police forces in Sulu.

Aside from this, Gordon claimed that Vagni is still suffering from hernia and fluctuating blood pressure.

“We are trying to send medicine to him. We are working on this,” Gordon said.

Meanwhile, the military has confirmed that Vagni is still alive.

“He made a telephone call to his wife yesterday,” Navy Spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo told a media forum in Greenhills, San Juan City yesterday.

He, however, said the troops tracking down the Abu Sayyaf group holding Vagni, are having difficulty pinpointing the general area where the bandits have taken the ICRC worker.

“They have difficulty finding Vagni this time because he got separated from the big group,” Arevalo said.

Malaysia deports 5 Abus

The Malaysian government yesterday deported five suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists long wanted by government authorities for a string of kidnapping, bombings and murder cases in the country.

Four of the Abu Sayyaf members participated in the kidnapping of European, Malaysian and Filipino tourists at the Sipadan Resort in Malaysia years back.

The five include Mohammad Hatta Haipe, who is reportedly also wanted by the United States. The others were Borhan Mundos, Gulam Mundos, Suffian Salih and Hasim Talib who were separately arrested and held by Malaysian authorities for non-terrorism offenses, including violation of Malaysia’s immigration laws.

Mundos, reportedly one of the Philippines’ most wanted men, is wanted for channeling funds from welfare foundations in Saudi Arabia to terrorist activities. – Jaime Laude and Rudy Santos, Sandy Araneta