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| Down Under | |
| Australia says no to $2 million ransom | |
| 2012-01-05 | |
| The Australian government has ruled out paying a ransom to have adventurer Warren Rodwell released from his kidnappers in the Philippines. Rodwell, 53, has pleaded for his life in a video sent to his Filipina wife and has told her his captors demand a $2 million payment. Mr Rodwell was taken from his home on the southern island of Mindanao on December 5. Human Services Minister Brendan O'Connor today said, "The Australian government has a policy of not providing ransoms, but we are at this point working with the local authorities, our embassy is working with those authorities in Manila and we will be working hard to ensure Mr Rodwell is released. There's been a policy, a bipartisan policy, of not paying ransoms for many, many years. "Indeed our focus at the moment is really ensuring that we do everything we can to have Mr Rodwell released. That should be our focus, that is our focus and the embassy is doing everything it can to ensure that ultimately happens." O'Connor said it was not helpful to discuss Rodwell's case in the media, but said Australian officials would deal with the case in a "manner that's professional and dedicated". It is thought the video was made a week after Rodwell was taken by gunmen and then sent to his wife as proof that her husband was still alive.
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| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 If she was the love of his life it woulda made more sense to take her to Alice Springs than for him to go live in Mindanao. Of course, Fred. But then when he ran out of money, she'd be stuck far from home, family, and the possibility of reeling in the next one. One of Mr. Wife's colleagues, clearly in the throes of an early mid-life crisis, emptied the family bank account -- twice -- to buy pretty things for the beautiful Filipina he met at a bar after a long day at the factory start-up. But once his money ran out, so did she. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-01-05 15:05 |
| #3 If she was the love of his life it woulda made more sense to take her to Alice Springs than for him to go live in Mindanao. Just sayin'. |
| Posted by: Fred 2012-01-05 11:35 |
| #2 [Rant on] This event is no real surprise and I am always surprised at how few kidnappings actually happen on Mindanao. You see it almost every day, a family of "glazed over with god in their eyes" Christians on their mission to convert the heathens and change the world, husband, wife and teen aged kids getting off the plane in Zamboanga headed to places like Jolo and Cotabato. They have no idea what real risk they are at and what risk they are putting others at. Remember the Burnams and JTF-P, the death of SFC Jackson, Martin Burnam, Edebora Yap, etc... All of this was because the Burnams wanted to share the word of god and ignored the embassy warning. This Mr Rodwell for example will be responsible for the death of a number of people. His ignoring the embassy warnings, for a piece of Flip tail, got him kidnapped. Now the Philippine military under political pressure will have to peruse the ASG and attack where they will get their asses handed to them and young men will die. Embassy staff will have to go into the jungle and negotiate this guys release, putting themselves at great risk of getting kidnapped or killed. The Aussie government will pay, we ALWAYS PAY, either through the Phil government or a third party. This money will go to financing the next attack or kidnapping. With any luck the ASG will behead this guy and other will stay away. [Rant off] |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2012-01-05 09:40 |
#1 Australian Kidnap Victim Ignored Travel Warnings in PhilippinesRodwell has been living on Mindanao for about a year, despite an Australian government travel advisory issued in 2005 not to travel to the region, where there have been 16 kidnappings since January 2010. |
| Posted by: gromky 2012-01-05 08:11 |