Skip to main contentdfsdf

Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ September 3, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Schilling told to buy arms, by Arlyn de la Cruz,

September 3, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Schilling told to buy arms, by Arlyn de la Cruz,

from web site

September 3, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Schilling told to buy arms, by Arlyn de la Cruz,

PATIKUL, Sulu--Had it not been for a disagreement over Islamic principles, American hostage Jeffrey Craig Schilling would have returned to the United States today to buy night vision goggles and assorted weapons for the Abu Sayyaf, according to the faction of the kidnapping group that seized him on Monday. 

In an interview at their camp on Friday, Abu Ahmad Salayuddin, alias Abu Sabaya, and other Abu Sayyaf members revealed that Sabaya and Schilling had been talking by cell phone and hand-held radio about the planned purchase of the equipment days before the American was taken hostage. Sabaya invited Schilling, a Muslim convert, to the gunmen's camp in Patikul ''to get the shopping list and to get further instructions which could not be discussed on the phone, such as where to bring the equipment,'' Abu members said in the vernacular. 

The American is married to Ivy Osani, Sabaya's cousin and widow of an alleged Abu Sayyaf member. Osani herself was arrested in 1997 with Khaddafy Janjalani, the leader of Sabaya's faction, and four other suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf. 

Schilling is being kept in a nipa hut guarded by 10 to 15 men. He is free to walk around in the hut but his hands are tied with electrical wires. The 24-year-old American is now on a hunger strike, his kidnappers said yesterday. Schilling looked well, but was having problems with his vision because of contact lenses that need to be cleaned daily, according to one of his guards. 

The captive's hands were tied after he damaged the door of his hut with a karate chop on Tuesday night, while shouting that he needed contact-lens cleaning fluid, his kidnappers said. The 6-foot-tall mulatto from Oakland, California, was wearing a printed malong and a white T-shirt. The gunmen would not allow him to talk with or be photographed by the media because ''he is not on display yet,'' Sabaya said. 

But the Abu Sayyaf is offering exclusive video footage of Schilling taken by the kidnappers themselves for $25,000 or to the highest bidder. According to Sabaya, the gunmen have a video camera, a gift from actor Robin Padilla, who was sent by President Estrada to negotiate for the release of hostages abducted in Basilan earlier this year. 

Women in black

The hut is in Khadaffy Janjalani's camp a few kilometers away from Taglibi, Patikul. The camp is inhabited by armed men with their wives and children, but only a few guards were posted along its periphery on Friday. The women, including Janjalani's and Sabaya's wives, were all dressed in traditional black Arab clothes. Sabaya's new wife is a nurse who used to work in Saudi Arabia. 

The camp is accessible via Patikul--if one can escape from the so-called ''Blackouts'' or lost commands which operate in the area and are looking to cash in on the hostage-taking spree that has put the tiny island of Jolo on the international map. A two-member ABS-CBN crew kidnapped in July and released a few days later was seized by one such band, Janjalani said. 

Trouble at dinner 

When Schilling and his wife traveled to the kidnappers' camp this week, Sabaya instructed the American to wear traditional Muslim attire so as not to arouse suspicion among the residents. A wire report this week said the Abu Sayyaf had tried to hide Schilling by passing him off as an Arab. Schilling's English gave him away, the report said. 

The couple arrived at the camp around 2 p.m. Monday, and the trouble apparently started that evening over dinner with Janjalani, Sabaya and other members of the Abu Sayyaf faction. Schilling aroused the suspicion of the Abu Sayyaf gunmen when he failed to perform a traditional Muslim thanksgiving ritual before dinner. ''He apologized. He said he forgot,'' a member said. 

Heated debate

But Schilling, whom the Islamic fundamentalist kidnappers described as a Shiite Muslim, provoked his hosts when he entered into a heated religious debate with Abu Sabaya. They argued about several subjects, such as at what age young mujahideen should be allowed to fire weapons, and whether tribal distinctions should be retained among the Bangsamoro upon the establishment of an Islamic state, the kidnappers said. 

The argument became emotional when Schilling started to criticize the Abu Sayyaf leadership, saying that the 1999 death of the group's founder, Janjalani's older brother Ustadz Abdurajak, had left a leadership vacuum. Janjalani had listened quietly throughout the meal, but toward the end, he told Sabaya to ask Schilling whether he knew a certain Shaun, an African-American who had met with the Abu Sayyaf two years before. 

The kidnappers believed that Shaun, who lived in Basilan and was married to a Filipina Muslim, was an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) because of his extensive knowledge of the Abu Sayyaf and the broader Muslim insurgency in Mindanao. 

All hell

When Schilling said yes, all hell broke loose, the members said. ''They started shouting at each other,'' the kidnappers accusing Schilling of being a US spy, and the American apparently explaining that he knew Shaun because they belonged to a small group of African-American Muslims who wanted to help Islamic causes around the world. 

Janjalani stood up and announced that he was tired and sleepy. That was a cue to the rest of the group to restrain Schilling, a gunman said. ''There was a scuffle, and suddenly, Schilling had become a hostage,'' the member said. Ivy, the American's wife, became hysterical. ''She started a new round of accusations,'' the kidnappers recalled. 

'Tool of police'

Osani, it turned out, had been arrested with Janjalani in Cebu City in 1997, on suspicion of being members of the intelligence group of the Abu Sayyaf. But on Monday night, ''Sabaya accused her of being a tool for (police) intelligence and said that she was responsible for the arrest of Khadaffy in Cebu,'' an Abu member recounted. When Ivy calmed down, they decided to send her back to Zamboanga City while Schilling stayed behind. 

Although Abu Sabaya said earlier this week that Schilling, when interrogated, had admitted being a CIA agent, it appeared from the interviews with several Abu Sayyaf members that they only suspected him of being a spy. 

Schilling's mother in Oakland told reporters there earlier this week that her son had planned to return on Sept. 3, to settle down in a new home with his new bride. She had described him as an ''intelligent young man with the idealism to make a difference in this troubled world'' and said he had special interest in the plight of the Muslim community in the Philippines. US officials have denied that Schilling is a spy. 

Hunger strike

Asked yesterday how their hostage was, Abu Sabaya replied: ''He is still there. He is on a hunger strike now.'' He did not elaborate. The Abu Sayyaf had demanded $10 million for Schilling's release Thursday, with Sabaya reportedly saying that ''one American is worth 10 Europeans.'' But in a radio interview yesterday, Sabaya said the group intended to make political demands. 

''We want only one thing and that is our political demands. If we talk about money, many anti-American groups are offering us money and arms if we kill this American,'' Sabaya said. 

New negotiator

Malacañang yesterday designated a negotiator to secure Schilling's release--and it was not Rolando Sarmiento, the mystery negotiator who surfaced the other day to initiate talks with Sabaya's group. The Palace named Sulu Vice Gov. Hadji Munib Estino as its official negotiator in the case, which Palace officials have said they were treating as a ''police matter.'' 

President Estrada said he was confident that the kidnappings, including a separate hostage crisis involving tourists kidnapped from Malaysia in April, would be resolved soon. ''It won't last long,'' he said. ''We are doing everything to establish peace and order.'' 

Red Cross

In Zamboanga City, a box meant for Schilling, containing canned meat and fruit, medicine and two blankets, was delivered to the office of radio station dxRZ early yesterday afternoon. It was reportedly sent by Sarmiento, who was supposed to meet with businessman Lepeng Wee last night but failed to show up. The kidnappers have requested that Wee be involved in negotiations. 

The local Red Cross chapter said it was willing to facilitate the delivery of food and medicine to Schilling. Red Cross administrator Victor Liozo Jr. said his group would bring the items to the Abu Sayyaf camp, provided they could get a written guarantee of safe conduct from the Southern Command, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan and the Abu Sayyaf. With reports from Jonathan F. Ma, PDI Mindanao Bureau; Inquirer wires 

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.

stevenwarran

Saved by stevenwarran

on Dec 31, 12