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Ulama step into Sulu hostage crisis, gov says


MANILA, Philippines – Muslim religious leaders have finally decided to step into the Sulu abduction crisis that has dragged on for three months already, involving two workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan, head of the crisis committee, said that five Ulama – Islamic scholars – were already trying to “establish contact" with the abductors of ICRC workers Swiss Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni. “Sa tingin ko ang lahat ay gumagawa ng hakbang [dahil] ang taongbayan ay mukhang pagod na rin sa ginagawa ng hostage takers," Tan told radio dzBB in an interview. [Almost everyone is already taking steps to ensure the safe release of the hostages because the people are already fed up with the hostage crisis.] Tan said he is hopeful that the involvement of religious people in the crisis could further “pressure" the abductors to release the remaining two captives. The crisis committee team had earlier attempted pitching in Sulu Rep. Yusop Jikiri and Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman to negotiate with the bandits. But the government’s insistence on partial pullout of military forces in Sulu had messed up with the negotiations. No other group is authorized to negotiate with the abductors, save for the crisis committee composed of local government executives as well as police and military officials. Notter and Vagni are still in the hands of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the jungles of Indanan town in Sulu province. The two foreigners’ Filipino colleague Mary Jean Lacaba was released on April 2, some 77 days after the bandits seized the three on January 15. Tan’s announcement on the Ulamas' move came on the 62nd anniversary of the Philippine National Red Cross, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon – one of the few people who the hostage takers have been contacting. Gordon on Monday released audio recordings of his phone conversations with Notter, Vagni, and even Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Albader Parad. The recordings showed "proof of life" for the two remaining hostages and belied claims the bandits demand ransom. Tan said that to this day, the ICRC workers’ captors still continue to only demand a total military withdrawal in two Sulu municipalities. The governor however reiterated that the government would not heed the demand. “Hindi muna natin gagawin ngayon. Noon kasi ginawa na natin, hindi naman nila sinunod. Ang gagawin muna natin i-release muna nila ang dalawang hostages. Ang concern natin ay dapat unharmed ang hostages," Tan said. [“We still won’t withdraw our forces. We did it before but the Abu Sayyaf did not immediately release a hostage. Now, we will just let them release another hostage unharmed before we consider pulling out.] Tan also said he still did not want to speculate on when the two hostages could be released soonest. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV
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