Kidnappers demand $2-M ransom for Aussie

MANILA, Philippines - A former Australian soldier kidnapped in Zamboanga Sibugay is seen pleading for his life in a video sent to his family and urging Manila and Canberra to raise a $2-million ransom demanded by his captors.

The video of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell, along with four photographs showing him in handcuffs and apparently wounded in the right hand, was mailed to his Filipino wife before Christmas, police officials said.

Wearing a sweater and appearing to read from a piece of paper, Rodwell tried to clear his throat as he spoke in the video, which was given by his family to Philippine police investigators. Looking haggard and unshaven, he squinted his eyes at times and stood in front of a blue tarpaulin covering a backdrop of vegetation.

“To my family, please do whatever to raise the two million US dollars they are asking for my release as soon as possible,” the former soldier said in the video obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life, his safety. Please help facilitate. I was former Army of my country but it’s different here, particularly the terrain. The only solution to ensure my safety is to go with whatever they need.

“If I’m given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive, please Madam ambassador,” he said in the video that lasted less than two minutes.

About six men took Rodwell, a university teacher in Shanghai, at gunpoint on Dec. 5 in southern Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province. It was the latest abduction of a foreigner in Mindanao, where several kidnappings for ransom have been blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

No group has claimed responsibility for Rodwell’s kidnapping, but officials suspect the Abu Sayyaf and its allied gunmen may be responsible.

Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga earlier said the kidnappers called Rodwell’s wife before Christmas to demand an initial ransom of $23,000.

The Australian government has formed a task force to investigate the kidnapping and negotiate with the captors.

“Our primary focus remains Mr. Rodwell’s welfare,” the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.

“Our embassy in the Philippines is working closely with local authorities with support from a whole-of-government task force in Canberra,” it added.

The Australian government, however, ruled out paying a ransom. “There’s been a policy, a bipartisan policy, of not paying ransoms for many, many years,” Human Services Minister Brendan O’Connor told reporters in Melbourne, Australia.

“Our focus at the moment is really ensuring that we do everything we can to have Mr. Rodwell released,” he said. – AP, Roel Pareño