Philippine military officials say a Norwegian hostage has been freed by Abu Sayyaf militants who had beheaded two Canadian captives and freed a Filipino woman kidnapped with him in a southern marina past year.
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Gen. Arnel Dela Vega (L) shakes hands with freed Norwegian hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad (R) as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza (C) looks on in Sulu Province, the Philippines, Sept. 18, 2016.
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.
“It was a long, long negotiation, as far as I’m concerned”, Duterte said, noting that he had talked to Misuari on the phone during Cabinet meetings.
It was not immediately clear whether Sekkingstad had been ransomed off. Duterte suggested in a news conference last month that 50 million pesos (US$1 million) had been paid to the militants, but that they continued to hold on to him.
The militants released him in the town of Patikul in the Sulu Archipelago. He But now he has hardened his position against Abu Sayyaf and branded them as terrorists as the bombing of his hometown in August.
They were brought to the headquarters of the Joint Task Force Sulu to undergo medical check-up and debriefing.
Duterte’s orders were plain and simple: “Kill them, destroy them”.
“What we do know is that we have been concentrating on the launch of all our operations and all our activities on the ground have been indicative of the increasing pressure felt by these groups”, Padilla said.
Meanwhile, another Indonesian was released Sunday night, together with two Filipino telecommunications technicians.
Both the Indonesian government and the Philippine military recognized the big role of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Saturday’s release of four kidnap victims – a Norwegian and three Indonesian fishermen. This has been the outcome for most of their hostages.
Duterte announced on Saturday that he would summon troops of the Star Division, a infantry unit specialized in anti-guerrilla warfare, to prepare to help fight extremist groups in The Philippines.
The group seized Kjartan Sekkingstad from an upscale resort on Samal island in Davao del Norte along with a Filipina.
The Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the nation’s worst terror attacks, is a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Ridsdel was beheaded in April and Hall was decapitated in June after ransom deadlines lapsed. When Ms Flor was freed in June, she recounted in horror how the militants rejoiced while watching the beheadings.
Sekkingstad was supposed to have been flown to Davao City and presented to President Rodrigo Duterte at 6:30 p.m.at the Mindanao Development Authority office at the old airport terminal in Sasa, according to an advisory from the Media Accreditation and Relations Office of the Presidential Communications Office sent at 5:57 p.m.
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“I’m very happy to be alive and free”.
