Kidnapped American Said Ill
By BULLIT MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -
An American held by Muslim rebels in a southern Philippine jungle is seriously ill, U.S.
officials said Thursday. They appealed for his immediate release on humanitarian grounds.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Thomas
Skipper said U.S. government officials learned from the family of Jeffrey Schilling that
he has serious medical problems and needs regular prescription medicine.
``From a humanitarian
standpoint, he should be released as soon as possible,'' Skipper said. He said he did not
know the nature of Schilling's condition.
Abu Sayyaf guerrillas announced
Tuesday that they had abducted Schilling, of Oakland, Calif. They threatened to behead him
if the United States rejects their demands, including the release of several Arab
terrorists in American jails.
The group, which says it is
fighting for a separate Islamic state in the impoverished southern Philippines, still
holds 18 other hostages on southern Jolo Island. It released six Westerners earlier this
week for what negotiators said was $6 million paid by Libya.
Philippine negotiators said
they would send an envoy to an Abu Sayyaf camp Friday to try to arrange the release this
weekend of six more Westerners, including two French television journalists.
In Washington, State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. was not interested in bringing in a third country
to help mediate Shilling's release and repeated the government's hard-line stance against
giving in to terrorist demands.
``The government of the
Philippines is in charge of the effort. We are certainly willing to see negotiations by
the government of the Philippines, but I think our policies on concessions and ransom and
those sorts of things are well known,'' Boucher said.
Shilling is held by a different
Abu Sayyaf faction - the same one that was responsible for the kidnapping of about 50
schoolchildren and teachers in March on neighboring Basilan Island. The group beheaded two
teachers after the United States ignored its demand for the release of Arab terrorists.
The Philippine government,
embarrassed by the kidnappings, is considering a tougher approach.
``This thing has become a
revolving door. There are hostages coming in and hostages getting out,'' Defense Secretary
Orlando Mercado said. ``I think one of these days we should close that door.''
The Abu Sayyaf said earlier
that they were willing to begin negotiations with U.S. Embassy officials as early as
Thursday for Schilling's release. They demanded that representatives of North Korea,
China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya take part - which Mercado called ``really out of this
world.''
Philippine officials said they
will try to negotiate before resorting to military action. They said the talks are
unlikely to involve a third country, apparently referring to Libya, which played a
prominent role in the release of the other hostages.
The U.S. State Department has
ruled out paying ransom and any deals with the rebels. Skipper said that policy ``does not
preclude us from negotiating ... What we can offer I'm not really certain.''
Shilling's mother, Carol,
called local radio station DXRZ from Oakland and appealed to the rebels to release her son
and give her a chance to talk to him.
``I would really very much like
him to be released and returned home to me safely,'' she said. ``My son is very important
to me.''
The rebels say they believe
Schilling is a CIA agent because he introduced himself as a Muslim convert but knew little
about Islam.
Schilling said her son
converted to Islam several years ago and visited the Philippines partly because of a
longtime interest in the region, but stayed after he fell in love with a Muslim woman, Ivi
V. Osani.
Osani's mother, Aida Ajijol,
said Osani and rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya are second cousins. Sabaya invited the couple to
visit the rebels' camp on Jolo, she said.
Elsewhere Thursday, a bomb
exploded near a public market in a southern town Thursday, injuring at least 13 people,
officials said. Police said they suspect another Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, in the bombing near a public market in the town of Kabacan.
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