ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 17, 2012) – An Australian man kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines was spirited out of Basilan province where security forces have been battling the terrorist group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, officials said Saturday.
Officials said Warren Rodwell, 52, has been moved by his captors to Zamboanga Peninsula on the restive region of Mindanao, where the former Australian army soldier was kidnapped in December.
“We have reports that Rodwell was taken by his kidnappers to Zamboanga Peninsula because of the intense military operation against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan,” Colonel Ricardo Visaya, the provincial army commander, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He did not give details about the escape, but said the operation against the terrorists will continue in Basilan. “We will not stop until these terrorists are neutralized,” he said.
Another security official has confirmed the report and said Rodwell was taken to Zamboanga Sibugay or Zamboanga del Sur.
Visaya said they have captured an Abu Sayyaf base in the town of Sumisip following a fierce firefight on Thursday that killed one army soldier and wounded three more.
The bomb-making base is being used as by terrorist leaders Puruji Indama and Khair Mundos whose group is said to be holding Rodwell, who married a Filipina, Miraflor Gutang, 27, lasy year in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province where the prolific traveller was kidnapped.
Both Indama and Mundos, blamed by authorities for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings for ransoms, escaped the military offensive.
The Abu Sayyaf demanded $2 million ransoms for Rodwell’s safe release, but his wife said they cannot afford to pay and appealed to the terrorists to free the foreigner. (Mindanao Examiner)
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