BY CAPTORS
[PHOTO - Warren Rodwell was
abducted in the southern Filipino province of Zamboanga Sibugay in December.
[Supplied] from ABCAsia Pacific News)
MANILA, JANUARY 6, 2012
(BULLETIN) (AP) – A former Australian soldier kidnapped in
Mindanao is seen pleading for his life in a video sent to his family and urging
Manila and Canberra to raise a $2 million ransom being demanded by his captors.
The video of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell, along with four photographs
showing him in handcuffs and apparently wounded in the right hand, were mailed
to his Filipino wife before Christmas, Philippine National Police (PNP)
officials said. The Associated Press saw a copy of the video and pictures
Thursday.
Wearing a sweater and appearing to read from a piece of paper, Rodwell tried
to clear his throat as he spoke in the brief video, which was given by his
family to PNP investigators.
Looking haggard and unshaven, he squinted his eyes at times and stood in
front of a blue tarpaulin covering a backdrop of vegetation.
One of the photos showed a silver handcuff and its chain dangling from his
left wrist. The side of his right palm appeared to be wounded.
[PHOTO - Philippine gunmen send pictures showing kidnapped Australian
Image. http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120104-319912.html
]
Rodwell, who also previously worked as a university teacher in Shanghai, was
taken at gunpoint by about six men on Dec. 5 in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. It was
the latest abduction of a foreigner in the country's volatile south, where
several kidnappings for ransom have been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked Abu
Sayyaf group.
No group has claimed responsibility for Rodwell's kidnapping, but officials
suspect the Abu Sayyaf and its allied gunmen may be responsible.
Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga told The AP on Sunday that the kidnappers
called Rodwell's wife before Christmas to demand an initial ransom of $23,000.
The Australian government has established a task force to investigate the
kidnapping and negotiate with the captors. Australia has a long-standing policy
of refusing to pay ransoms.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Thursday declined
to comment on developments in the investigation.
"Our primary focus remains Mr. Rodwell's welfare," the department said in a
statement.
"Our embassy in the Philippines is working closely with local authorities
with support from a whole-of-government task force in Canberra," it added.
Hundreds of Philippine troops and police have been searching for Rodwell in
the Zamboanga peninsula and nearby Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf and
other Muslim militant groups are active.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a large Muslim rebel group engaged in
peace talks with the government, said this week it would intensify efforts to
help secure Rodwell's freedom in coordination with authorities.
EARLIER REPORT FROM THEAGE DOT COM DOT
AU
Kidnap victim, wife, in volatile marriage Lindsay
Murdoch December 11, 2011
Fearful … Salvadora Gutang holds a picture of her daughter,
Miraflor, and Warren Rodwell. Photo: Al Jacinto
THE young Filipina wife of Sydney adventurer and teacher Warren Rodwell had
filed two complaints of abuse against him before he was shot and kidnapped in
the southern Philippines, police said.
After a whirlwind love affair on the internet, the marriage quickly turned
from a Cinderella story to an unhappy one for 27-year-old Miraflor Gutang, her
father, Loreto Gutang, told The Sun-Herald.
''It was not a really good marriage and I think my daughter regretted a lot
that she married a guy whom she does not really know,'' Mr Gutang, 66, said.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''They often quarrelled at home, and my
daughter would always run here to us and cry and we could not do anything but
comfort her,'' he said. ''You know, among married couples, these things cannot
be avoided.''
The claims of abuse have not been verified. Ms Gutang has pleaded with the
kidnappers to release her 53-year-old husband, saying he is not well and she has
no money to pay a ransom.
Mr Rodwell, a former Australian army officer and English teacher who has
travelled frequently in isolated parts of developing countries, violently
struggled with four armed gunmen before he was dragged from his house just after
dusk last Monday.
A blood trail indicates he was shot in the foot during the struggle.
Mr Rodwell married Ms Gutang, also known as Grace, on June 1 and bought a
house in October in a village near the seaside town of Ipil, on the restive
island of Mindanao, where foreigners and rich Filipinos are often kidnapped for
ransom.
The Ipil municipal police chief, Edwin Verzon, said Ms Gutang had filed two
abuse complaints against Mr Rodwell since the marriage. ''She filed two
complaints with us and she was also planning to bring it to the attention of the
Australian embassy in Manila, but we don't know if she pursued it,'' Inspector
Verzon said.
Her mother, Salvadora Gutang, 61, told The Sun-Herald her daughter, who has
been taken to a safe house at an undisclosed location, had spoken with
Australian officials since the kidnapping. ''So far, there have been no contacts
with the kidnappers, no demands whatsoever, and we are really worried about the
safety of Warren,'' Mrs Gutang said.
Some neighbours have described Mr Rodwell as a good man who kept to himself,
while others said was he was strict and arrogant.
Ms Gutang had moved out of Mr Rodwell's house two weeks before the kidnapping
and returned to her parents' home in Naga, a village about 30 kilometres from
Ipil.
Neighbours have said the unmasked gunmen posed as policemen on arriving in
the village when Mr Rodwell was alone in the house.
The struggle occurred before the tall and powerful Australian could reach a
loaded hand gun he kept under the pillow of his bed.
A hunt is under way for the kidnappers. Philippine security forces suspect
they could be a gang with links to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, which
kidnapped the wife of a British national from Ipil in September.
They have also not ruled out rebels with links to separatist Muslim groups
such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Local criminal gangs with knowledge of Mr Rodwell's movements could also be
responsible, security officials said.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/kidnap-victim-wife-in-volatile-marriage-20111210-1oonx.html#ixzz1ibZ2OeVl
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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