‘Pentagon’ frees guide of kidnapped Chinese

COTABATO CITY — Muslim bandits have released without ransom the Filipino guide of a group of kidnapped Chinese workers and pledged to release the last Chinese captive within three days.

A haggard-looking Edward Lim, sporting the same shirt he was wearing when he and three Chinese workers were abducted in early August by members of the "Pentagon Gang," was released Wednesday night along a highway in Kabacan town in North Cotabato.

At Malacañang yesterday, Lim was presented by military officials and the Chinese ambassador to President Arroyo, who commended those responsible for securing the safe release of the hostage.

"I’m very happy that I am now free and can return to my family," Lim said in a Visayan dialect.

Lim, who worked for a Chinese company setting up an irrigation system here, identified Tahir Alonto as the leader of the gang that kidnapped their group in Datu Paglas town.

Lim’s release was made possible through the intercession of the Council of 15, the new central leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Lim was turned over by emissaries of the Pentagon gang to Cotabato Mayor Muslimin Sema after two days of negotiations in a secluded area traversing the boundaries of Datu Paglas and Buluan, Maguindanao and Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat.

Sema said among those who helped negotiate for the release were Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza and Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol.

In Manila, the President also credited Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamco, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and Norberto Gonzales, presidential adviser on special concerns for the peaceful release of the hostage.

Mrs. Arroyo assured Chinese Ambassador Wang Chung Gui that the remaining hostage would be released before her state visit to Beijing on Oct. 29.

Sema, a former rebel leader, confirmed that the remaining hostage, Chinese national Zhang Zhong-yi, remained in the hands of the Pentagon, a shadowy bandit group whose members are allegedly former guerrillas of the MNLF.

One of the kidnappers, identified as Faizal Marombzar, earlier told a local radio station that the captive would be freed in "two to three days."

He claimed the Chinese worker’s freedom was delayed due to "some misunderstanding" in the negotiations, in which he claimed ransom was involved.

However, Dureza said Lim’s release did not involve ransom.

Lim, Zhang and two other Chinese workers were kidnapped as they delivered a ransom for Zhang’s brother, who was abducted by the gang last June. Two Chinese workers were killed when the military mounted a rescue attempt last month, while a third was rescued. – With Edith Regalado, Marichu Villanueva