10 alleged members of MILF, Sayyaf kidnap Swiss national

MANILA, Philippines – Suspected Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militants in Zamboanga were reportedly responsible for the kidnapping of a Swiss Filipino last Sunday, the military said yesterday.

Army 1st Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustestica said 72-year-old Charlie Reith was kidnapped by at least 10 armed men reportedly belonging to the group of MILF sub-leader Malista Malanca and Abu Sayyaf leader Khair Mundos.

Col. Santiago Baluyot, commander of the army’s terrorist task force in Zamboanga, said the gunmen, disguised as policemen, arrived on several speedboats and took Reith from his house.

“We launched a pursuit operation but it was too dark to track down the raiders,” he said.

Baluyot said Reith’s friend Karl Reichling, a German national, was with him when the kidnapping occurred.

The gunmen also attempted to take Reichling but he was able to fend them off, according to Baluyot.

Lustestica said Reichling suffered a black eye.

“Initial report from informants disclosed that the group of MILF sub-leader Malanca in Albarka, Basilan with Abu Sayyaf leader Mundos planned the kidnapping,” Lustestica said in a text message.

He also said the suspects went to Reith’s house in the guise of arresting him on drug charges. Initial reports from the field said the group, who were on board three pump boats, headed towards Basilan island.

The kidnappers also took with them Reichling’s watch and camera.

Lustestica said he has no information yet as to whether the group is demanding ransom for the victim’s release.

“The floating assets of the Philippine Navy were dispatched to conduct maritime interdiction operation in the area. The commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and the Commander Naval Forces of Western Mindanao were informed and alerted for possible rescue operations,” he said.

“Our troops are continuously gathering information and checkpoints and detachments are placed on heightened alert.”

He said they have yet to determine whether Malanca belongs to the mainstream or rogue faction of the MILF.

On the other hand, Mundos is said to be a newly appointed leader of the Abu Sayyaf with connections to international funding donors from countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Mundos, who has a $500,000 bounty on his head offered by the United States government, was captured by the Philippine security forces in 2004 but escaped from jail in 2007.

The Islamic militant was believed to have facilitated the transfer of funds from international terror group al-Qaeda to the Abu Sayyaf to carry out attacks.

Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded an American hostage in 2001, and have reaped major ransom bonanzas for kidnapping other foreigners as well as locals.

Most recently, Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded a local businessman on Mindanao’s Basilan island in December last year after not receiving a ransom payment they had demanded.

However, there are many other groups in Mindanao who similarly kidnap people assumed to have money in the hope of securing ransom payments.

In one case that also involved a foreign elderly man, gunmen kidnapped Irish priest Michael Sinnott, then 79, from another city in Mindanao in October last year and held him for a month.

The Abu Sayyaf was initially suspected of being involved in the kidnapping.

However, Sinnott said after being released his abductors told him they were from a nomadic Muslim tribe who wanted extra money from a potential ransom for their own armed struggle against authorities.

Aside from the smaller militant groups, the 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for an independent homeland in the southern Philippines since 1978 in a conflict that has claimed more than 150,000 lives.

Officials at the Swiss embassy in Manila were not immediately available yesterday to comment on Reith’s abduction.

Officials: No demand for ransom yet

In Zamboanga City, police and military authorities said suspects have not demanded any ransom yet in exchange for Reith’s release.

The city’s Crisis Management Committee (CMC) chair Mayor Celso Lobregat held an emergency closed door meeting with Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Police Regional Office director Chief Superintendent Angelo Sunglao and Naval Forces Western Mindanao Command Rear Admiral Alexander Pama and ground commanders to discuss how to address Reith’s abduction.

During the meeting, they formed Task Force Charlie that will oversee Reith’s safe recovery.

Lobregat also said no group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, members of the Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA) recovered from a nearby abandoned beach hut some 200 to 300 meters away from Reith’s house, empty sacks used by gunmen to conceal their firearms.

The CAA members believed that the gunmen might have assembled first in the area before staging the kidnapping. 

Lobregat emphasized that Reith is not a Swiss national but a Filipino citizen whose father is Swiss and whose mother is Filipina.

“He was born and raised here. He is a Filipino. He may have a foreign sounding name but he is a Zamboangeño,” Lobregat added.

The CMC requested the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation (DIPO) Western Mindanao to provide law enforcement assistance after assessing that Reith might have been brought to Basilan.

“We have alerted all the military units in the edges of Zamboanga City to be on the look out and intensify intelligence information,” said Dolorfino.

Sunglao has designated Senior Superintendent Francisco Cristobal, DIPO Western Mindanao deputy chief, to head Task Force Charlie.

Verzosa orders tight security on coastal areas

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa ordered maritime police to enforce tight security on coastal areas where crimes like smuggling, terrorism and trafficking are committed, in the wake of Reith’s abduction.

The PNP chief said police should guard the country’s coastal areas, which in the past were used as gateway for criminals to escape from pursuing authorities.

“Most crimes committed here transpire on the seas, such as smuggling, terrorism, trafficking, and abduction. We really have to reform the Maritime Group and develop the capabilities of our personnel,” said Verzosa.

Verzosa said the PNP is set to procure more fast boats, and establish more maritime detachments to better secure the coastal areas in the country. “We hope the PNP could provide one fast boat for each coastal town in the country,” said Verzosa.

Meanwhile, Monsignor David Alonzo, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, yesterday condemned Reith’s kidnapping and asked officials to rescue the businessman but “keep the victim’s safety in mind.”

Reith was a well-respected member of the local community, according to Erico Fabian, a Zamboanga representative in the national parliament who said he was a close friend of the kidnap victim.

 “Mr. Reith is a civic-minded person and a permanent fixture in business circles here,” Fabian told reporters.

 “I personally condemn this kidnapping because this guy is old and has done no wrong, only good, to the city.” – With Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan, Rainier Allan Ronda, AP