Philippines kidnap victim is freed after 12 weeks

American citizen Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann dropped off on Basilan Island but son and another relative still being held A Filipino-American woman has been freed after 12 weeks in captivity in the southern Philippines but suspected Muslim militants are still holding her 14-year-old son and a relative, authorities have said. Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was dropped off by boat late on Sunday at a wharf and walked to nearby Maluso township on southern Basilan Island where a patrolling police team picked her up, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang. She was handed over to FBI agents. “We thank God for this release,” said Celso Lobregat, the mayor of Zamboanga city, adding that Lunsmann was “a bit weak”. Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants snatched the three on 12 July while they were vacationing with their relatives on an island near southern Zamboanga city. In a 17 July phone call to the captives’ relatives in Virginia that was traced to Basilan, the hostage-takers demanded a huge ransom, according to Philippine officials. It was not clear if any ransom was paid but that has been the case in previous abductions. Ransom kidnappings are a problem in the impoverished region and are blamed mostly on the Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to al-Qaida and notorious for beheadings and bombings. It was founded on Basilan in the 1990s as an offshoot of a violent Muslim insurgency that has lasted decades. US-backed offensives have weakened the group, which is blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organisation, but it remains a threat. Hundreds of US troops are stationed in the southern Philippines, including Basilan, to train and equip Philippine forces but are prohibited from engaging in military operations. Lunsmann, a 41-year-old veterinarian who lives in Virginia, was born to a Muslim family near Zamboanga. She was adopted by an American couple as a child and grew up in the United States. She has visited her Philippine home province at least five times before, police said. Philippines United States Global terrorism guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.