The fishermen – who were abducted off eastern Malaysia in mid-July – attended a press conference alongside Ryacudu and the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command chief, Lieut.
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Ridsdel and Hall were beheaded in April and June, respectively.
An ecstatic Sekkingstad meanwhile expressed his “heartfelt” gratitude to the President saying he is “happy to be alive and free and it is a attractive feeling”. “I can not tell you now, but we are trying our very best to put order in this country”, Duterte told the media.
The Norwegian national who was kidnapped from a resort he managed in the Island Garden City of Samal on September 21 last year is finally home from Sulu, where he spent almost a year in captivity and was freed September 17.
Sekkingstad also said he narrowly survived military attacks against his captors, with a bullet piercing his backpack.
“We will continue to forge the support and cooperation of the local residents who will ultimately benefit from the success of these operations”, he said.
Sekkingstad told reporters he endured “psychological pressure”, with the Abu Sayyaf threatening several times to behead him. “Devastating, devastating”, he said.
Dureza said the Norwegian stayed overnight at the place of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari who volunteered to host Sekkingstad’ stay due to heavy rains and nightfall.
“He is well”, Dureza said, adding that Sekkingstad would be handed over to authorities tomorrow and then flown to the southern city of Davao. The three Indonesians were taken to the nearby city of Zamboanga where a retired Indonesian general was waiting to pick them up.
It was unclear whether a ransom had been paid in exchange for Sekkingstad’s freedom, but it is widely believed that no captives are released by the group wit’hout it.
“I would like to reiterate the government maintains the no ransom policy”.
The Philippine and Norwegian governments could not immediately be reached for any comment regarding this issue.
While Duterte has pursued peace talks with Misuari’s group and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, he has ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller but more brutal band that the president says aims to establish an Islamic state or caliphate. “Now, if a third party or the family gives ransom, we do not know”, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told local radio station dzRB.
The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Five Indonesians, five Malaysians and a Dutch bird watcher, along with five Filipinos, remain in Abu Sayyaf custody, the Philippine military said. It is notorious for making millions of dollars from kidnappings and extortion.
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The group has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the Philippines for its bombing, kidnapping and murder activities.
