Tag: kidnapped

Filipino, not Chinese, sailors kidnapped off Cameroon: document

DOUALA, Cameroon (AFP) — Most of the sailors kidnapped off the Cameroon coast last week were Filipinos, not Chinese as first reported, according to an official document seen by AFP Sunday. On Friday, an official in the port of Douala told AFP that 17 crew had been abducted, including “nine Chinese civilian sailors” from one of the two ships attacked, along with Ukrainians. The attacks took place on Thursday in Cameroonian waters off Douala, located […]

Roque: Team formed to help secure release of Filipinos kidnapped in Libya

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has formed a team to help secure the release of the three Filipinos who were kidnapped in Libya. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the team was headed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano. Members of the team included Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Dangcal Alonto, and Abdullah Mama-o, the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers concerns. According to Roque, the formation […]

Philippine leader says he could be open to talks with militants

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte says he could be open to peace talks with the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf, which recently beheaded two foreign hostages and kidnapped seven more. “The Abu Sayyaf is not my enemy. I know it is connected with the issue of Mindanao,” Duterte told supporters in a speech in the central city of Cebu late Saturday, referring to the rebellion-torn south of the country. “That is why […]

Seven Indonesian sailors kidnapped, held hostage: govt

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Seven Indonesian sailors have been kidnapped at sea in the southern Philippines, the government in Jakarta said Friday, the latest in a spree of abductions by armed gangs in the strife-torn region. The crew were towing a coal barge in the Sulu sea on Monday when their tugboat was hijacked by armed groups, Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi said. Seven sailors were taken hostage in two separate attacks on the vessel […]