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Muslim militants kidnap two in southern Philippines
Muslim militants abducted a bakery owner and her son on a remote southern Philippine island, a police official said on Friday, warning of a possible resurgence of kidnappings by notorious rebel group Abu Sayyaf. The Philippine military, with help from the United States, has spent the past year combing the remote island of Jolo for members of Abu Sayyaf, who work and train with Jemaah Islamiah, Al Qaeda's franchise in Asia.

"We have reasons to suspect the Abu Sayyaf group was behind the latest kidnapping on Jolo island," Ahirum Ajirum, the police chief in Sulu province, told reporters, a day after masked gunmen took away the mother and son who owned a bakery and a pawnshop.

"We heard the gunmen were demanding at least 10 million pesos in exchange for the freedom of Jackylyn and Jeffrey Silbin."

Ajirum said it was the second case of kidnap-for-ransom of local traders on Jolo this year. The last high-profile abduction of foreign and local tourists in the south happened in May 2001, when Abu Sayyaf beheaded one of three American tourists.
Posted by: ryuge 2006-07-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=161131