Manila Confirms American Kidnapped by Muslim Rebels
Jit Dutta
MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippine government
confirmed Tuesday that a U.S. citizen had been kidnapped by
Muslim rebels in the south of the country and taken to the
island of Jolo, where the guerrillas are holding other
Western hostages.
``It is confirmed,'' the government's chief hostage
negotiator, Robert Aventajado, told Reuters. ``He was
brought to the camp of Radulan yesterday afternoon. He was
abducted in Zamboanga.''
Radulan is one of several commanders of the Abu Sayyaf
guerrillas based on the island of Jolo, 600 miles south of
Manila.
A spokesman for the rebels earlier told a radio station in
Zamboanga that the man, identified as 24-year-old Jeffery
Edwards Craig Schilling, was kidnapped Monday and would be
killed if the group's demands were not met.