American in Philippines on Strike
By KOMAKO AKAI, Associated Press Writer
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -
An American man kidnapped by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines has begun a hunger
strike, the guerrillas said Saturday.
The Abu Sayyaf rebels had
earlier requested food and medicine be sent to their camp on remote Jolo island for
Jeffrey Schilling, 24, of Oakland, California, who U.S. officials say has serious health
problems.
Asked Saturday how Schilling
was, rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya replied: ``He is still there. He is on a hunger strike
now.'' He did not elaborate.
Philippine Red Cross officials
have instructed their staff not to deliver food to the rebels' camp because of the danger
of abduction, the Radio Mindanao Network said.
The U.S. State Department also
issued a warning Friday to Americans to avoid all travel to the southern Philippines,
including southern and western areas of Mindanao and islands farther south.
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 this past week for a
reported $6 million bankrolled by Libya.
On Friday, negotiators said the
rebels had privately demanded $10 million for Schilling's release.
But in an interview Saturday
with the Radio Mindanao Network, Sabaya said the group was only interested in
still-undisclosed political demands.
``We want only one thing and
that is our political demands. If we talk about money, many anti-American groups are
offering us money and arms if we kill this American,'' he said.
The rebels earlier threatened
to behead Schilling, who was abducted Sunday. Sabaya, however, pledged not to harm him
while negotiations continue.
But an emissary who visited the
rebels' camp 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 starchy root common in
rural areas.
The U.S. State Department has
ruled out paying ransom to the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
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.''
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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