No ransom demand for kidnapped Japanese

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Gunmen believed to be linked with the Abu Sayyaf militants that kidnapped a Japanese citizen last Friday, have not yet made any ransom demand even as government troops intensified search and rescue operations in Sulu, police officials said yesterday.

“Our efforts have been ongoing to search for the exact location of the abducted Japanese national,” Superintendent Christopher Panapan, deputy chief of the Sulu provincial police command said.

Panapan said police and military units in Pangutaran Island town in Sulu have not yet received information if the kidnappers have demanded ransom for the release of the hostage who was identified as Katayama Mamaito.

Ten armed men snatched Mamaito, 63, a Muslim convert who uses the name Amer and is reportedly engaged in treasure hunting on sunken Japanese warships, in sitio Bas, Barangay Bangkilay in Pangutaran at about 1 p.m. last Friday.

“Until now, we have not heard the kidnappers making contact or making demands yet,” Panapan said.

Panapan said Sulu Provincial Police commander Senior Supt. Elmer Escosia has ordered local police forces to coordinate with the Marines under Task Force Comet to search for the hostage in the islets near Pangutaran Island.

He said they are also verifying the exact identity and background of the gunmen that abducted Mamaito. The kidnappers are allegedly linked with the Abu Sayyaf group.

Panapan said the Marines and the police have secured the area to prevent the kidnappers from transporting the victim to another island.

Meanwhile, the military has identified some of the abductors of the Japanese hostage.

“We already have a report bearing the names (of the possible abductors). But we cannot reveal the names, the name of the leader of the suspected group, because we are conducting follow-up operations,” Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

“We do not want to alarm them or alert them,” he added. – With Alexis Romero