Vagni's health hindering rescue ops - military

MANILA, Philippines - The reported poor health condition of Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni is hindering military operations to rescue him from the clutches of the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, the military spokesman in the hostage crisis, said an encounter is usually favorable to kidnap victims since it gives them a chance to run from their captors. “In our experience, encounters are favorable to kidnap victims because when there are fire fights, the tendency of the enemy is they hide, allowing the kidnap victim to run," he said. This is however not possible in the case of Vagni, who is reportedly suffering from hernia and is having difficulty in walking. “On the case of Vagni, he may not be able to do this [run] because he couldn’t walk. That complicates… that makes it a little bit to conduct rescue operation," Arevalo said. Vagni’s worsening health condition has prompted Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan to authorize the rescue operation. Tan is the head of the Crisis Management Committee handling the hostage situation. Vagni, 62, was among the three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers abducted in Sulu last January 15. His two other companions, Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba and Swiss Andreas Notter, had already been by the Abu Sayyaf. Arevalo said they are yet to receive reports on Vagni’s possible whereabouts. “We still have no eyes on Vagni, and if there are, that will be the time we can launch [operations]. It’s really hard to try a rescue operation unless we are very sure of our target," he said. - GMANews.TV