Swiss Red Cross hostage rescued in Philippines

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 7:06 AM Posted by Beijing News


Philippine security forces on Saturday rescued a Swiss Red Cross worker held hostage for more than three months by Islamic militant guerrillas, government officials said.

Andreas Notter, 38, was freed on the outskirts of the town of Indanan on Jolo island in the extreme south of the country following a joint operation by the military and local police, the officials said.

The government said it had no immediate details about a second International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC hostage, 62-year-old Italian national Eugenio Vagni, who was believed to be unwell and in need of hernia surgery.

The two men, along with a local colleague, were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group on January 15 as they left a prison on Jolo. The Filipina, Mary Jean Lacaba, was released on April 2.

"I am very glad to be with you. I am still a bit confused how it happened," a haggard-looking Notter told reporters as he was formally turned over to Red Cross representatives by Jolo governor Abdusakur Tan and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

"I walked out and am happy to be alive and safe," he said, adding that "everything happened very quickly."

He called on the authorities to do everything they could to secure Vagni's release, who he said was in pain from his condition.

Notter was then airlifted to the nearby port city of Zamboanga, en route to Manila, officials said.

Puno said the kidnappers had been trying to slip through a large military-police cordon when they were intercepted.

"They gave chase and the kidnappers were forced to leave Mr Notter behind because they were not able to drag him with them any more," he told reporters, adding that the rescue was a "result of very intense operations" against the Abu Sayyaf.

The office of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo hailed the rescue.

"This is a major breakthrough that we hope shall eventually lead to the rescue of the last remaining hostage, Eugenio Vagni," spokesman Cerge Remonde said in a statement.

Alain Aeschlimann, head of Asian operations at ICRC, reiterated calls for Vagni's release in a statement from Geneva.

"We are, of course, very relieved that Andreas will soon be back in the arms of his loved ones," Aeschlimann said.

"But we remain very concerned about Eugenio's safety and we call on the abductors to let him go safely, immediately and unconditionally."

Jolo Governor Tan meanwhile said five Muslim clerics sent to the Abu Sayyaf to persuade them to free the hostages remained in the area, even as he has instructed local security forces to continue to apply pressure.

Tan said they "will continue to exert more pressure for the safe release of Mr Vagni".

The group is on the US government's list of foreign terrorist organisations and a small number of American forces have been rotating on Jolo island since 2003 to provide intelligence information to their Filipino counterparts.



A man works on the rotor head of a windmill at the fair grounds in Hanover, Germany, where preparations are under way for the Hannover Messe fair for industrial technology. AFP/DDP/Nigel Treblin

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