Reporter recovering after kidnap ordeal

Agencies/ManilaA Jordanian TV reporter yesterday described escaping captivity by Islamic militants in the southern Philippine jungle following an 18-month kidnap ordeal that saw him lose a third of his body weight. Looking gaunt and haggard, with his cheeks hollowed out, Bakr Atyani said from hospital that he sneaked out after his guards from the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group went to get supplies. “It was not my first time to attempt escape, I did it twice before. I failed,” Atyani told ANC Television, sporting a beard grown in captivity and a baseball cap atop his long hair. “This time, they were really too busy, and I noticed that before sunset... they (went) to the nearby town market (and) a good number of them were out of the place and there was no security,” the Al-Arabiya reporter said. He said in recent days his captors had grown lax, posting only a token presence outside a tiny hut that served as his quarters at night. Atyani said over time he managed to get a general idea of where he was being held, and what direction to take should he escape. Police said they found Atyani Wednesday evening wandering near a jungle-clad area on the restive island of Jolo. “After we confirmed his identity we took him to a hospital. He was apprehensive at first, but we introduced ourselves as police and (Atyani) lightened up when he realised he was safe,” provincial police spokesman Chief Inspector Chris Gutierrez said. He said Atyani was being treated in the Jolo hospital for elevated blood pressure, while undergoing debriefing by police investigators. “He had lost a lot of weight, from his weight of about 85kg before he was taken to 55kg,” Gutierrez said. The circumstances surrounding Atyani’s freedom remained murky, and Gutierrez could not say categorically whether he had escaped from his captors or was freed. Dubai-based broadcaster Al-Arabiya said in a statement Wednesday that Atyani was handed over to Filipino authorities by the kidnappers, but the account from police and Atyani himself contradicted that. “We are keeping him here for the meantime while he is recovering and while he is being debriefed,” Gutierrez said. Previous kidnapping cases involving the Abu Sayyaf have involved large ransom payoffs, which local authorities euphemistically call payments for “board and lodging”. Military and police sources had previously said the Abu Sayyaf had demandedmillions in dollars in ransom, though neither Atyani’s family nor employer would confirm this. Atyani is the Southeast Asia bureau chief of the Al-Arabiya News Network. The veteran journalist gained fame for interviewing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden months before the September 11, 2001 attacks. He hired two Filipino crew members and went to Jolo in June last year to interview Abu Sayyaf leaders, but they were instead taken hostage. The Filipinos were freed in February this year, and said no money had changed hands. They said they were separated from the Jordanian five days into their captivity. Jolo, more than 1,000km south of Manila, is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for the country’s worst terror attacks, including bombings and abductions of foreigners and missionaries. US special forces have been rotating through Jolo and other parts of the southern Philippines for more than a decade to train local troops battling the group, which is on Washington’s list of “foreign terrorist organisations”. The Philippine authorities say Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed still to hold a number of foreign as well as Filipino hostages, including two European birdwatchers and a Japanese treasure hunter. In March, the gunmen freed Australian Warren Rodwell from 15 months in captivity. Philippine negotiators said his family had paid a $100,000 ransom. Rodwell was seized in December 2011, and his captors had initially demanded $2mn for his safe release. The Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf is holding at least seven more foreigners and local residents as hostages after it freed Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani late Wednesday.A Manila-based police intelligence officer who requested not to be named said two Lebanese sisters, a Japanese treasure hunter and two European birdwatchers remain captives of the group.The sisters, Linda Bansil 35 and Nadjoua, 29, were seized while doing a film documentary on Muslim farmers in Patikul, Sulu last June.A Japanese treasure hunter, Amer Mamaito Katayama, was snatched while on an expedition in Pangutaram Island in Sulu on July 2010.The police intelligence officer said Katayama has been utilised as a cook by his captors.Dutchman Ewold Horn and Swiss Lorenzo Vinciquerra were on a birdwatching expedition when they were abducted in February 2012 in Barangay Parangan, Panglima-Sugala town in Tawi-Tawi.The Abu Sayyaf is also holding Jess Cabilin, the provincial treasurer of Sulu who was snatched last November 18 near his office in Patikul, and Edgardo Eddie Fabella, a businessman who was dragged from his home in Barangay Maasin in Zamboanga City last January.Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin puts the number of Abu Sayyaf hostages at 17.“Last week, I was able to talk with (a) congressman and he said there are 20. The Jordanian and two others have been released so there are still 17 remaining,” Gazmin said.Jolo is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for the country’s worst terror attacks, including bombings and abductions of foreigners and missionaries.