Jordanian TV journalist, 2 Pinoy crew not hostaged

COTABATO — The Jordanian journalist and his two Filipino crew who went missing in mid June while on assignment in the mountains of Sulu province in Mindanao were not held hostage by Abu Sayyaf, a senior Muslim rebel leader said

yesterday.

Von Al Haq, spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said that Baker Abdulla Atyani, Southeast Asia bureau chief of the Al Arabiya TV network, and his two Filipino crews Rolando Letrero and Ramelito Vela, were seen by their men freely moving inside Abu Sayyaf lair in Sulu.

Atyani, known for his interview of Osama bin Laden months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, arrived at Jolo airport at 10 a.m. on June 11 and interviewed Governor Sakur Tan. Atyani and his team were last seen the next morning, June 12, boarding a passenger vehicle which had fetched them at their hotel. Al Haq said the team was not held against their will. “They were doing documentary film of the group’s six hostages,” Al Haq said.

Al Haq said if they were kidnapped, the abductors demanded ransom money.

“But as of now, there was no ransom demand from the captors,” he said.

However, Al Haq said they have mobilized members of their Ad Hoc Joint Action Group in Basilan, which is tasked to arrest lawless elements as well in the search for Atyani’s team.

But Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on Saturday confirmed that veteran TV journalist and his two Filipino cameramen were being held hostage.

Earlier, Jordan ministry spokesman Sabah Rafei said they are doing all means to safely get back Atyani from the hands of his Abu Sayyaf captors in the province of Sulu.

The Abu Sayyaf, active in southern Philippines, was founded in the 1990s and has perpetrated a number of high-profile attacks, including kidnapping, bombing and beheading.