Offensive set vs Abus holding Germans

MANILA, Philippines - Police and military troops are poised to raid the Abu Sayyaf lair in the Sulu jungle to set free the German couple who have been held for ransom for the past six months.

Sulu military commander Col. Allan Arrojado said the attack could be launched “anytime.”

The Abu Sayyaf warned the military yesterday any rescue attempt would force them to kill 74-year-old Stefan Viktor Okonek and his wife, 55-year-old Henrike Dielen.

Armed Forces vice chief Lt. Gen. John Bonafos said the attack would be a law enforcement operation to rescue the couple and to arrest their kidnappers.

Police would take the lead and the military would play a supporting role, he added.

Speaking to reporters in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday,  Bonafos said they are not calling it a combat operation since a hostage-taking activity is involved, particularly kidnapping.

“For now, the plan for the law enforcement operations is being crafted,” he said. “We cannot provide details… but what we can say is this is focused on the perpetrators of the kidnapping.”

Speaking by phone-patch with reporters in Zamboanga City yesterday, Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Rami threatened to behead Okonek this afternoon and Dielen a week later unless the government pays P250 million in ransom and Germany stops supporting the US campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“No, the ultimatum will stay until 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

Nobody from the government has contacted them for the safe release of the hostages, he added.

Rami said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cannot extend the negotiations for the couple’s freedom.

“Nobody can extend the ultimatum because the Shariah requires that it take place at 3 p.m. on Oct. 17,” he said in Filipino.

They have already given the government five months to negotiate for the safe release of the hostages, but that it had rejected this as propaganda riding on the ISIS popularity, he added.

They are trying to contact Okonek’s family to allow him to say farewell, Rami said.

During the phone-patch, Okonek was allowed to speak and briefly answered some questions before Rami took the phone.

Okonek said: “The message is I love them all very much and I hope we will see each other soon again.”

Rami said they have already separated the couple following orders from their commander that Dielen must not witness the killing of her husband.

Okonek and Dielen were snatched  while their yacht was sailing near Rio Tubbataha off Palawan last April and brought to Sulu.

More troops were sent to Western Mindanao to strengthen the military’s anti-terror campaign.

Two Army battalions from Northern Luzon were moved to Zamboanga peninsula and Sulu late last month.

A K-9 company comprised of 10 tracking teams and one Special Forces company have been deployed to Sulu early this month.

The Sulu Provincial Peace and Order Council has formed a special unit to oversee the law enforcement operation and ensure the German couple’s safety. – With Roel Pareño, Delon Porcalla