Were two German sailors Kidnapped in the Phillipines?

[pbmaise]

I don't have fast internet on the boat so missed including this from the local press.

Hunt on for German hostages

• Published: 13 Aug 2014 at 14.49 | Viewed: 3,466 | Comments: 0
• Online news:
• Writer: dpa

MANILA — Philippine troops are scouring the jungles of a southern island where Islamist militants were suspected to be holding captive two German nationals, military sources said Wednesday.



"Search and rescue efforts are ongoing," an intelligence source said, when asked about a photo of the hostages that surfaced on the internet.
The photo showed Stefan Viktor Okonek, 74, and Henrike Dielen, 42, holding what appears to be a German flag and surrounded by 10 armed men with cloth or scarves partly covering their faces.
The source said the photo appears to be authentic, but declined to give more details.
Mr Okonek and Mr Dielen were allegedly seized by Abu Sayyaf rebels from their yacht off the western province of Palawan on April 25.
They were believed to have been brought to Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for previous kidnappings of foreign hostages.
A Filipino hostage freed by the Abu Sayyaf last month told authorities that he saw the German nationals during his time in captivity.


Hunt on for German hostages | Bangkok Post: Most recent

[Bregts]

Bad news! :-(

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(Reuters) - Al-Qaeda linked militants in the southern Philippines have threatened to kill two Germans hostages they have been holding since April unless Germany stops supporting U.S. action against Islamic State militants, the SITE monitoring service said. .....
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Philippine Islamist militants threaten to kill German captives | Reuters

[MarkJ]

Yea its disgusting



I can only wonder what they are going through.

[Tellus]

..no comment, it 's only nameless

[Tellus]

Happy end? Well I hope so...
Philippine rebels free German hostages - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

[roverhi]

Philippine militants get part of ransom for kidnapped Germans - SRN News

More on the ransom payment.

[dannc]

More info on the release and ransom.

German hostages freed in Philippines - The Local

General Gregorio Catapang told reporters that the pair had been taken to a military hospital after their release.
DXRZ radio, based in the city of Zamboanga, had earlier broadcast an interview with a spokesman for the hostage-takers, who claimed they had received a ransom payment.
TV station GMA News quoted an unnamed government official, who said that 60 million pesos (around €1m) had been paid to secure the hostages' release.
There was no official confirmation of the reports early on Friday afternoon. The Islamists had set a deadline of Friday for payment or one of the hostages would be killed.
The Foreign Ministry in Berlin had confirmed at a press conference earlier on Friday that one of its crisis negotiators was in the Philippines to deal with the case.
The 72-year-old German doctor and his 55-year-old partner, both from Hesse, were abducted in April while sailing around the islands, and have been forced to appear repeatedly in videos released online and on local radio.
Abu Sayyaf had been demanding a ransom of more than 250 million pesos (€4.4 million) for their release, as well as insisting that Germany cease all support for the battle against Isis in Iraq.
Earlier on Friday they announced a two-hour extension to their 7am deadline before beheading one of the couple if the payment of the ransom were promised over the phone.
Filipino armed forces were also reportedly preparing to rescue the pair, two anonymous soldiers told DPA. But officials wouldn't confirm the reports at the time.
....

Later,
Dan

[MarkJ]

Glad they have been released.

But it means that every cruiser there is worth €500,000 or $638,000 USD. You suddenly are very good looking to lots of folks with curved knives.

How many on your boat? Children?

[delmarrey]

Here is the philippine top news on the story.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/re...erman-hostages

[pbmaise]

How many would post reward money for the capture and conviction of all involved in their capture and detention?

Study this next sentence from newspapers:

"By ransoming off its hostages for millions of dollars the group was able to raise funds to buy more arms, and it cemented its brutal reputation by be heading some of its captives--"

This is not a happy day for the sailing community.

This is not a happy day for the people of the Philippines.

I would be personally mortified if I learned one penny was spent from my family or Country to wage war in the Philippines. Or on any people.


Sent from my A660B using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Alan Mighty]

From Randy David in the Philippine press:

Stopping the ‘Abu Sayyaf’

BY RANDY DAVID

WHEN the two Germans being held by an armed group in Sulu were released on Oct 17 after six months in captivity, a Philippine military spokesman announced that the foreigners were freed because of the pressure exerted by the military and that, in keeping with government policy, no ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

The kidnappers quickly countered by saying that the Germans were released after 250 million peso in ransom money was delivered.

As if to rub salt into the wound, the bandit group posted a video clip showing their armed members hovering around bundles of crisp 1,000-peso bills.

Why? Is this just their way of sneering at the military’s failed effort to free the hostages? What did they hope to gain from showing the world how much money they reaped from their predatory activities?

I think that if we look closely at the larger game being played here, we might get a clearer idea of the complex situation that is simplistically summed up as the “Abu Sayyaf” problem.

I prefer to put that notorious name between quotes because I do not believe we are dealing here with the same group associated with the late Abdurajak Janjalani, the founder and ideologue of the original Abu Sayyaf.

I think that the captors of Stefan Viktor Okonek and his companion, Henrike Dielen, have nothing to do with either the al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS).

I believe that the prominent display of the IS banner in their self-taken photos and videos is nothing more than a shallow attempt to wrap their brutal predation in politico-religious garments. These are neither militants nor radicals.

We are dealing here with bandits, plain and simple, who have converted their capacity for violence into a profitable enterprise.

We are not talking here of one gang, but of several groups operating in their respective domains. Some of these groups may even function as guarantors of order in their communities, where governmental institutions are weak.

For all the menacing weapons around their bodies, these are not full-time armies. Loosely structured, they tend to cluster around a battle-scarred key figure and his lieutenants.

Their rank-and-file members are unemployed or out-of-school young men, often in their teens or early 20s, who are in quest of easy money. As soon as they get their share of the ransom, they go back to whatever irregular jobs they may be doing in their villages.

Or they use the money to fund their exit from the impoverished communities in which they were born and raised.

Some may even resume schooling as if nothing happened – until the next “project” presents itself.

All this makes it exceedingly difficult to identify the individuals that constitute these groups. It would not at all be surprising that, when arrested, some of the leaders might claim membership in any of the separatist movements that have existed in Mindanao.

This pattern of predation has prompted some observers to refer to these groups as “lost commands”.

So, to go back to the original question: Why would it be necessary for the “Abu Sayyaf” group that received the ransom money from the German government to broadcast through social media the actual payment of the ransom for the release of its two nationals?

I can think of two reasons.

First, it is important to assure the local communities that harbour or provide support services to kidnappers during the long period of waiting between the abduction and the actual payment of the ransom that they will be amply rewarded for their cooperation.

The posting of photos and *videos of the ransom money on social media is not mere bravura but an irresistible enticement for young Moros to take part in a crime that appears unstoppable.

Second, this prominent exhibition of the fruit of the crime may be a way of encouraging everyone who harbours any resentment against the established order to take the initiative by seizing target individuals who can be exchanged for ransom and turn them over to the “professionals” who will conduct the negotiations.

Foreigners from affluent countries are obviously the victims of choice.

Okonek and Dielen were seized from their yacht near Palawan while they were on their way back to Sabah. Their movement might have been monitored by criminal elements from the time they docked in Palawan.

It is also likely that the group that abducted them is different from the group that hid them for several months, and from the group that finally negotiated ransom.

The nodal points of this criminal network might be known if the police or military could follow the trail of the ransom money.

I think no one will be surprised if, at any point in this sordid episode, some local officials or policemen were found to have collaborated by looking the other way or by actually assisting the kidnappers.

Okonek and Dielen were kidnapped on April 25. There was no news about them until two weeks later.

On May 6, Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo announced: “The two Germans are now with Radulan Sahiron.”

He even identified the men who brought them to Patikul, Sulu. How is it possible that no local official knew?

In a chapter he wrote for the fascinating book, Out of the Shadows: Violent Conflict and the Real Economy of Mindanao, Eric Gutierrez argued that local elites must be tapped as an important part of the solution to the problem.

“They are best placed to negotiate, bargain or add pressure on communities that provide refuge and support to bandits.

“They should not be excluded and instead turned as effective instruments for stable and inclusive community leadership.”

This goes against prevailing intuition about local elites, but I think he may be right. — The Philippine Daily Inquirer

[pbmaise]

The postscript of this story is still being written.
Stefan and Henrike were released October 2014. The Filipino military confirmed that a payment was made.

At that time, more hostages were being held.

The news reads " hefty ransom payments enable the group to fund attacks and replenish its forces from impoverished Muslim communities in southern regions of the largely Catholic Philippines.

Capture of Chinese hostages has impacted the entire Philippines after China imposed recommendationa that no tourists should go to the Philippines. Of course that may have had more to do with disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea, aka South China Sea.

China denies they paid ransom. However, their travel advisory of Sep 2014 repeated and Mar 2015 has help drive away 50% of tourists.

44 police officers died when trying to raid a camp in January 2015

A Malaysian police officer taken from Malaysia was finally released March 2015 after being held 8 months. Ransom?

The Philippine Coast Guard and Navy have taken some measures you may not initially notice. The nice Coast Guard greeting and their documentation of a boat already legally in the Philippines comes with a friendly reminder to tell them when you leave the harbor.

It is not possible to sail your vessel South of Davao.

There is a new dispute regarding Indonesian fishing boats, and Filipino, Malay, and Indonesian navy are all bumping around and observing the waters North of Borneo.

Everything they are doing is helping make sailing in the Philippines safer.

Therefore: And correct me if wrong,

#1 Travel between Palawan and Borneo via Kudat or West down to Kota Kinabalu Safe.

#2 Coming up or down West Palawan Coast is safer.

#3 All travel East of Kudat is still not recommended despite military, or because of military build up.

#4 Travel to Davao from the North safe.

#5 Travel South of Davao forbidden. Your vessel may be turned back.

#6 Those coming up or down to Indonesia. Giving wide berth to Southern Mindanao area is questionable. How wide is a wide berth? Why not go up Western shore of Borneo. Personally, I would keep 200 to 250 nm wide berth.

Some sailors report to me a no running light policy.

Overall as a Christian nation the Philippines is already one of the safest places. In 6 years I have never locked the door to my floating home.

Never never pay.