ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Local emissaries have been tapped to negotiate the release of a German doctor and his wife kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf.
A source said the emissaries were trying to contact the group holding Stefan Victor Okonek and Henrike Dielen.
Abu Sayyaf militants seized Okonek, 74, and Dielen, 55, near Rio Tubataha in Palawan last April.
Provincial officials and police authorities refused to comment on the supposed negotiation, saying the police Anti-Kidnapping Group is handling the case.
Abu Rami, the spokesman for the group holding the Germans, had said they would behead one of the victims on Oct. 17 if the Philippine and German governments would not pay a P250-million ransom.
The militant group also demanded that Germany withdraw its support to the US campaign against the jihadist group of Islamic State for Iraq and Syria.
The Western Mindanao Command deployed additional troops in Sulu to pursue Abu Sayyaf bandits.
The Third Air Division of the Air Force also vowed to provide air support to rescue the two Germans and other kidnap victims.
Maj. Gen. Esmeraldo Magnaye, Third Air Division chief, said their air assets are on standby.