3 Syrians arrested for creating fake platforms    Saudi Arabia deports 11,687 illegal residents in a week    SR9000 fine for copyright infringement using AI    Nepal eases curfew as protests leave 51 dead; ex-chief justice sworn in as interim PM    Al-Wasel highlights unwavering Saudi commitment to achieve a two-state solution    Israel orders mass evacuation from Gaza City as ground offensive intensifies    Lebanon launches fourth phase of Palestinian camps disarmament plan    Riyadh to host WrestleMania 43 in 2027, first outside North America    Government launches platform to offer residential land in Riyadh at SR1,500 per sqm    Taif represents Saudi Arabia at UNESCO Creative Cities literature network meeting in Slovenia    Summer 2025 sees 32 million tourists in Saudi Arabia with over SR53 billion spending    Al-Futtaim BYD KSA hosts first Super Hybrid Tech Day in Saudi Arabia First event of its kind in the region showcases breakthrough super hybrid technology    Saudi Industrial Production Index rises 6.5% in July 2025    King Charles and Prince Harry finally reunite after 19 months apart    Anastacia: Arnold Schwarzenegger made me sing Whatta Man 12 times    Thousands pay their last respects to Giorgio Armani, private funeral on Monday    French doctor goes on trial for poisoning 30 patients, 12 fatally    The key to happiness    Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to meet in exhibition boxing match in 2026    Al Ahli secure Flamengo starlet Matheus Gonçalves in long-term deal through 2027    Al Qadsiah sign German midfielder Julian Weigl to strengthen defensive midfield    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Militants thriving: Filipino former hostages
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 10 - 02 - 2013

MANILA — When they were taken hostage last year in the jungles of the southern Philippines, Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro were pleasantly surprised when their Al-Qaeda-linked captors handed each of them a hotel-like comfort pack that included a bedsheet, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a glass, plates, spoons and two sets of new clothes.
In the mountain encampments that would be their prison in Sulu province for nearly eight months, the recently released captives said they saw an Abu Sayyaf force of about 400 heavily armed fighters who puffed Marlboro cigarettes and enjoyed the luxury of cellphones, including some with cameras and access to email and Facebook.
Vela and Letriro's ordeal provides a glimpse into the Abu Sayyaf's resiliency despite a decade of American-backed local offensives that have battered the group, which is on a US list of terrorist organizations and remains one of Southeast Asia's most dangerous Al-Qaeda-inspired offshoots.
Rice, fish, beef, medicine, bottles of Coke and other supplies filtered from the town market, which the militants visited from time to time, or from an unknown network of supporters into the Abu Sayyaf's far-flung lairs, according to Vela and Letriro, who were freed on Feb. 2, reportedly in exchange for ransom.
It's unclear where the militants got their weapons and ammunition.
"We didn't see all their weapons, but the ones I saw were very powerful," Vela told The Associated Press in an interview Friday in Manila.
The 39-year-old cameraman was seized along with audio technician Letriro and veteran Jordanian TV journalist Baker Atyani by Abu Sayyaf militants he said they had hoped to interview in Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.
Atyani, who gained prominence for interviewing Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan a few months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, remains in the hands of Abu Sayyaf gunmen, who are demanding a $3 million ransom, police say.
Vela said about 400 militants armed with assault rifles, explosives and machetes were split into several groups, which alternately held them in different encampments of bamboo huts nestled amid mangosteen trees and coconut groves.
The gunmen stayed in community-like encampments with their wives and children, who were immediately moved away, along with the hostages, at the first sign of a looming military attack.
While most of the militants were barely educated, some did attend college and others kept to a conservative Muslim way of life. They prayed in a makeshift mosque before dawn, at noon and early evening each day, helping the captives keep a rough track of time, Vela said.
In one encampment, women were completely covered with gowns and religious veils, which left only their eyes exposed. The men there never smoked or played cards, unlike in the other camps, according to the two former captives.
Once, the two asked the gunmen what they were fighting for and were told they wanted to seize the predominantly Muslim provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi Tawi and form a separate Islamic state. The gunmen have demanded control of the three provinces in exchange for the freedom of two Caucasians, who they claimed were separately being held in Sulu's jungles, Vela said, adding that he and Letriro never saw other hostages aside from Atyani, who was separated from them five days after they were held.
Gunmen kidnapped Ewold Horn of the Netherlands and Lorenzo Vinciguerra of Switzerland while on a bird watching trip to nearby Tawi Tawi province in February last year and took them by boat to Sulu, police say.
Vela and Letriro said they were treated well, and added that their long captivity in the jungle-clad mountains at times felt like a break.
"It's a vacation that was not relaxing and came with a lot of explosions," Vela said, describing close brushes with gunbattles between troops and the militants.
But there were constant fears of meeting a brutal death.
The militants passed the time by calling and fiddling with their cellphones, which they charged using a portable solar panel, they said.
Some of the gunmen owned up to three cellphones each, which they used to watch videos of their clashes with government forces, including the beheading of slain soldiers. The two captives said they were horrified when they were shown the videos on the phones.
"I thought that jungle would be our graveyard," Letriro said. — AP


Clic here to read the story from its source.