Abus release undiscovered hostage in Jolo

Agence France-Presse ^ | 6/29/02

[Ranger]

ZAMBOANGA - A fisherman who was held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group without public knowledge, was freed by his abductors in the face of a military assault, news reports and military officials said Saturday.

Fisherman Lydio Castro, who was seized from the southern island group of Tawi-tawi in November, was released in Jolo island by Abu Sayyaf members under their commander, Radullan Sahiron.

His abduction was never reported and only came to light when he was freed.

A television report said Castro was freed by the Abu Sayyaf into the custody of Muslim separatist rebel leader Sharif Julabbi because his family could not pay any ransom.

However military officials insisted that he was freed because of the increased pressure caused by a military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf members in Jolo.

Julabbi, whose rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has signed a ceasefire and is conducting peace talks with the government, was quoted as saying he had negotiated for the release of Castro and had turned the fisherman over to his family.

Troops were continuing an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in the islands of Jolo and Basilan but the kidnapping group had hidden themselves in the mountains even as bad weather hampered the manhunt, officials said.

Defense Department spokesman Melchor Rosales said the group of Sahiron and Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani "are more or less contained in a mountainous area," near Patikul town in Jolo island and soldiers were tracking them down.

The military overran four camps of the Abu Sayyaf on Jolo island on Friday, raising hopes that their senior leaders would soon fall.

Rosales said "his (Sahiron's) main force has retreated," rather than engage the military.

Another military offensive is continuing on the nearby island of Basilan where Abu Sayyaf senior leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Hamsiraji Salih are being hunted in the hinterlands near the town of Lantawan.

Basilan military commander Colonel Alexander Aleo said fighting had ceased as "it looks like they are hiding now, Salih and Hapilon."

Janjalani, Hapilon and Salih were among five Abu Sayyaf leaders for whom the United States offered a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to their capture.

Rosales said the military could not say when the problem would be settled, remarking that much of this depends on "how good our intelligence will be."

Up to a thousand US troops are in the south providing support to local soldiers in the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf who the government says have links to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks in the United States

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