NPA frees Muslim soldier captured during Eid'l Adha

(Updated 5:05 p.m.) KIDAPAWAN CITY – Communist rebels on Sunday released a Muslim soldier whom they abducted in Compostela Valley last November 16 while Muslims around the world were observing Eid’l Adha, the feast of the Holy Sacrifice. Cpl. Daem Hadjaie of the 25th Infantry Battalion was freed at the vicinity of Sitio Side 4 in Barangay Mangayon in Compostela town around 2 p.m. He was received by Davao City vice mayor Rodrigo Duterte. “The release of Cpl Daem Hadjaie today is a victory for the family of Cpl Daem Hadjaie, his relatives, friends and all the people who fervently prayed for his release and for the soldiers who relentlessly pursued the abductors to rescue their comrade-in-arms," said 10th Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar. In a statement, Rigoberto Sanchez of the Merardo Arce Command of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) said the order to release Hadjaie, who was captured at Sitio Mabatas, Barangay Upper Ulip in Monkayo town, was based on humanitarian grounds. He said they took into consideration the appeals made by a Moro organization and by some local officials in deciding to release Hadjaie, who was taken as “prisoner of war" by NPA rebels under Front 20 Conrado Heredia Operations Command. Sanchez said the safe release of Hadjaie “should serve as a challenge to President [Benigno] Aquino [III] to release all political prisoners in the country." Aguilar said "pressure" from the public's condemnation of their acts forced the rebels to free Hadjaie. “The NPA could not stand the pressure of people who condemn its underhanded scheme," he said. “I think it was a product of pressure coming from the people because almost all sectors did not like what the NPA did. It was a clear violation of human rights and his well-being," he added.- KBK, GMANews.TV