Philippine presidential adviser Jesus Dureza, who received Sekkingstad and the three freed Indonesians from Moro National Liberation Front rebel chief Nur Misuari in Misuari’s rural stronghold near Sulu’s Indanan town, accompanied the Norwegian on a flight to the southern city of Davao, where the ex-hostage was to meet President Rodrigo Duterte.
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FOLLOWING the release of a Norwegian and three Indonesian hostages, the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group freed two Filipino captives in Sulu on Sunday, which was attributed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to “sustained military operations”.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command, said sustained military operations led to the freeing of Daniela Taruc and Levy Gonzales in Panglima Estino town in Sulu on Sunday night.
The Norwegian government said the release of Sekkingstad was a “positive development”.
Sekkingstad was taken hostage along with two Canadians and a Filipino woman from the resort island of Samal.
Sekkingstad, from Sotra in Western Norway, was seized along with three other hostages by the Islamic insurgent group Abu Sayyaf almost a year ago.
But, “if a third party or the family gives ransom, we don’t know”, said Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar-a disclaimer issued straight-faced despite Mr. Duterte publicly disclosing, however inadvertently, that he did know about ransom being paid early on.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr. Dureza said Mr. Misuari “volunteered to host”, in particular, the stay of Mr. Sekkingstad.
Security analysts said the Abu Sayyaf would never release a hostage without ransom.
The transfer took place at the heavily guarded camp of another Muslim rebel leader, Nur Misuari, whose group assisted in the release, according to the government.
“We can not move against the bandits unless Duterte authorizes us to hunt them down”, Cerveza said.
The Indonesian minister denied reports that a 10 million peso ($209,000) ransom was paid for the release of the fishermen, stressing “we stick to the no ransom payment method”.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has warned his country’s troops to step up their fight against Abu Sayyaf Islamists and cautioned them the extremists want to establish a caliphate in south-east Asia.
Resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad was among four people abducted in September 2015 by Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants based on remote and mountainous southern islands who have earned millions of dollars from kidnappings in recent years. He announced that possible deals with Russian Federation and China were “in the pipeline”, and vowed to upgrade the nation’s armed forces to better address recent terrorist attacks. He But now he has hardened his position against Abu Sayyaf and branded them as terrorists as the bombing of his hometown in August. That sense of impunity was further strengthened when Mr. Duterte came to power in June and forthwith ordered a stop to the pursuit of Misuari so peace talks could be held between the government and the MNLF.
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In a speech on Monday, the Duterte said that the U.S. troops would only complicate the fight against Abu Sayyaf.
