Philippine Rebels Want $10 Million
By KOMAKO AKAI, Associated Press Writer
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -
Muslim rebels who threatened to behead an American man kidnapped in the southern
Philippines have demanded $10 million for his release, negotiators said Friday.
The U.S. State Department,
however, has ruled out paying ransom to the Abu Sayyaf rebels for the release of Jeffrey
Schilling, 24, of Oakland, Calif., who was abducted Sunday.
Despite their threats to behead
Schilling, the rebels pledged not to harm him while negotiations continue. They asked that
food and medicine be sent for Schilling, who U.S. officials say has serious health
problems.
But an emissary who visited the
rebels' camp on Jolo island reported that Schilling had been tied up after resisting
captivity. The report could not be verified.
``You must send today medicine
and food because you know this American doesn't eat cassava,'' rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya
told newly appointed negotiator Roland Sarmiento. Cassava is a root eaten by poor
Filipinos.
The two spoke in a telephone
conversation broadcast over the Radio Mindanao Network.
The Abu Sayyaf group, which
says it is fighting for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines, is still holding six
other foreigners and 12 Filipinos after freeing six Westerners earlier this week for a
reported $6 million bankrolled by Libya.
Sabaya made the $10 million
ransom demand Thursday night, a member of the negotiating team said. He had earlier said
that ``one American is worth 10 Europeans'' in ransom.
On Friday, Sabaya did not
repeat the $10 million demand but asked for the inclusion in the negotiations of Lee Peng
Wee, a businessman who helped arrange about $4.5 million in ransom reportedly paid for the
earlier release of nine Malaysians.
The request for Lee's
involvement suggests that the rebels plan to follow a similar approach with Schilling's
kidnapping in which a ransom would be paid by third parties, allowing the U.S. government
to maintain its official no-ransom policy.
Sabaya also repeated a demand
that North Korea, China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya take part in the negotiations - a
request Philippine Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado called ``really out of this world.''
``While we are conducting talks
... we will not consider any violence against Mr. Schilling,'' Sabaya pledged. ``But if we
lose our patience, then the U.S. will really regret it.''
Philippine negotiators hope the
Abu Sayyaf will release the six Westerners, including two French television journalists,
this weekend.
Schilling is being held by a
different Abu Sayyaf faction 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 the group's demand for the release of Arab terrorists, and
also tortured and killed a Catholic priest.
Sabaya said the rebels are
''99.9 percent certain'' Schilling is a CIA agent because he introduced himself as a
Muslim convert but knew little about Islam.
In Oakland, Schilling's mother,
Carol, said her son converted to Islam several years ago and visited the Philippines in
March 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 Sabaya are second cousins. Sabaya had invited the couple to
visit the rebels' camp on Jolo, she said.
Osani said they agreed to go,
not realizing that Schilling would be kidnapped.
Presidential press secretary
Ricardo Puno said the government is ruling out a military assault ``at this time.''
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