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Kidnap forces ICRC to halt operations in southern Philippines: report
AFP - 1 hour 58 minutes ago
MANILA (AFP) - - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has temporarily halted operations in the restive southern Philippines following the kidnapping of three of its workers, according to the latest reports.
"We are temporarily halting operations in the area so we can revisit and assess our security arrangements," Roland Bigler, ICRC's spokesman in the Philippines, was quoted saying on the GMA7 television website.
He said the kidnapping Thursday of ICRC workers Andreas Notter, a Swiss national, Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Filipina Jean Lacaba was a "setback."
The ICRC team was kidnapped by armed men from the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf as they left a jail on the island of Jolo.
So far no demands have been made by the kidnappers.
"Our main concern is the safety of our colleagues," Bigler said.
The website also quoted a statement by the Italian foreign ministry saying it has activated its crisis unit to monitor the situation.
The Italian embassy last activated the unit in 2007 when Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped in Zamboanga.
He was eventually released after months in captivity. Embassy officials declined to comment if ransom was paid for his safe release.
"So far no ransom demands have been made and no one has heard from the kidnappers," regional police spokesman Senior Superintendent Danilo Bacas told AFP.
"Our operation along with the military to recover the victims is ongoing. Until now, there has been no feedback from the abductors," Bacas said.
Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's biggest Muslim rebel group, said it was helping in the hunt for the ICRC workers.
"The latest information we received is that the kidnappers are transferring their captives by land and sea from one island to another," Iqbal told AFP.
Jolo is a known stronghold of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, a 380-member group blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.
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Kidnap forces ICRC to halt operations in southern Philippines: report
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