A MASSIVE search is under way for an Australian man abducted from his home in the southern Philippines.
Zamboanga City. December 6, 2011.
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An Australian man was abducted in the southern Philippines, the military said, in what could be the latest in a long line of kidnappings for ransom by Muslim radical groups.
Several armed men abducted Warren Rodwell from his home in the seaside town of Ipil on Mindanao island, then fled on speed boats, according to the military.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines told media that no one had claimed responsibility for the abduction.
But kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners, occur frequently in parts of the southern Philippines, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has endured for more than 40 years.
The Abu Sayyaf which has links to Al-Qaeda is the most notorious of many Muslim militant groups known to carry out such kidnappings in the south.
The group which is believed to have only a few hundred armed followers, was blamed for the abduction of a Filipina woman last year.
The military rescued her two weeks later on the Abu Sayyaf’s stronghold of Basilan island, about three to five hours away by speed boat, during a gunfight in which one soldier died.
So far, the military is not able to determine if the Abu Sayyaf was also behind this most recent kidnapping.
“We are looking into the possibility that it may be the same group, but it’s much too early to say,” said a military spokesman.
The Abu Sayyaf was founded in 1990 with Al-Qaeda funding and has been blamed for the Philippines’ worst terrorist attacks, including a ferry bombing that killed more than 100 people in 2004. The group has also beheaded many foreigners.
A rotating force of about 600 US soldiers has been stationed in the southern Philippines for a decade to train the Philippine military how to fight the Abu Sayyaf. However, the group has survived partly due to strong local support.
A website, which could not be immediately verified, advertised a shop run by Warren Rodwell and his Filipina wife in Ipil. It linked to other sites posting photos and writings from Rodwell travelling around the world.