A look at major Abu Sayyaf kidnappings
MANILA, Philippines - A look at major kidnappings in the southern Philippines attributed to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups.
Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Sunday freed the last of three international Red Cross workers they kidnapped last Jan. 15 on southern Jolo Island.
• March 2000: More than 50 school children, teachers and a Roman Catholic priest are kidnapped on southern Basilan island. The priest is tortured and killed while two male teachers are beheaded. The others escaped or are rescued by troops.
• April 2000: 21 people, including mostly European tourists, are seized from Malaysia’s Sipadan resort and taken in speedboats to Jolo; all were freed in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom reportedly financed by Libya. More than a dozen foreign and local journalists covering the hostage crisis also end up hostages. Some pay ransom, others escape.
• July 2000: 12 members of a Christian evangelical group are kidnapped while visiting an Abu Sayyaf camp to pray for the release of foreign hostages. They walk free after ransom is paid.
• August 2000: Jeffrey Schilling, an American Muslim convert, kidnapped while visiting an Abu Sayyaf camp on Jolo island. He escapes after almost eight months.
• May 2001: Three Americans and 17 other tourists are snatched from the Dos Palmas resort in southwestern Palawan province. One American is killed and another freed during an army rescue. The third American was beheaded.
• August 2001: 33 Christian residents of Balobo village on Basilan are taken hostage and 10 are beheaded.
• April 2004: Three crewmen of a Malaysian tugboat are abducted off Malaysia’s Sabah state; believed to have either died of illness or killed by their captors.
• June 2007: Italian priest, Giancarlo Bossi, is kidnapped and held for 39 days.
• January 2009: Gunmen kidnap three aid workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross from Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines. The three are freed separately, with the last - Italian Eugenio Vagni - being released Sunday. – AP
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