Three Red Cross workers abducted by Muslim militants enter their third month in captivity in the southern Philippines today with no sign of progress in negotiations.
Swiss national Andreas Notter, 38, Italian Eugenio Vagni, 62, and Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, 37, were snatched by an al-Qaeda-linked group on Jolo island on Jan. 15 while on a humanitarian mission.
The military says it knows where they are being held and has cordoned off the area of rugged jungle terrain on Jolo, but has ruled out complying with the kidnappers’ demand that it withdraw troops from the island, and is reluctant to use force for fear of harming the hostages.
After almost three weeks of silence, the hostages called the local Red Cross office on Wednesday to say they were alive and had not been separated, as had been feared.
“They are stressed, but taking into consideration the situation they are in, they sounded composed and calm,” International Committee for the Red Cross regional spokesman Roland Bigler said.
“We hope that this crisis will be solved very soon and our colleagues will be released as soon as possible unconditionally,” he said.
The government has imposed a news blackout on the search for the hostages, making it virtually impossible to get accurate information.
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