Marine hurt in clash with Vagni's captors

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Government troops clashed with the al-Qaeda-linked captors of an Italian Red Cross worker in Sulu yesterday, wounding a Marine and an undetermined number of gunmen.

It was not immediately clear if ailing Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni was with the Abu Sayyaf militants led by commander Albader Parad, who engaged the Marines in the brief gun battle in a jungle near Indanan town in Sulu, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

Marines were chasing the militants who withdrew into the woods, leaving behind bloodstains, he said. “Our men were doubly careful because this group still has the Italian hostage,” Arevalo said.

Vagni and two other workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross – Swiss Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba – were kidnapped last Jan. 15 after inspecting a jail water supply project in Jolo.

Lacaba was released April 2 and Notter walked free about two weeks later.

After weeks of futile negotiations, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan ordered troops and police to rescue the 62-year-old Vagni last month, citing his failing health.

Vagni has hypertension and needed surgery for hernia that made walking difficult, Tan said.

Vagni last called his wife Friday, the ICRC said, without giving other details.

Abu Sayyaf militants killed Sulu police director Julasirim Kasim and his three escorts last week in an ambush near Maimbung town.

Kasim, one of the highest ranking officers slain by the militants, was in a five-jeep convoy on his way to arrest suspected Abu Sayyaf members when attacked, police said.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 fighters, has been blamed for numerous kidnappings, bombings and beheadings.

It is believed to have received funds from al-Qaeda and is on the United States list of terrorist organizations. – AP, Jaime Laude