Sunday, July 12, 2009 ZAMBOANGA: Italian aid worker Eugenio Vagni was doing "remarkably well" in hospital early Sunday after his sudden release by Filipino rebels who held him for nearly six months, officials said.The 62 year-old was taken to a military hospital on the southern Jolo island for precautionary medical checks after the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group handed him over to province vice governor Nur-Ana Sahidulla shortly after midnight.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker, who suffers from hernia, had been known to be ill at various times during confinement."He's doing remarkably well considering the number of days he spent in captivity," ICRC spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk said while talking to a French news agency.Vagni was seized by the Abu Sayyaf militant group with ICRC colleagues Andreas Notter of Switzerland and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba in January during a humanitarian mission on Jolo, a hotbed of militant activity.The gunmen freed his two fellow hostages separately under unexplained circumstances in April.Isyuk declined to discuss the terms of his release while stressing that the international aid agency did not pay ransom.Local television station ABS-CBN quoted unnamed sources as saying Vagni would be effectively swapped for the two wives of Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad who were arrested along with four other kidnapping suspects in Jolo on Tuesday."I can't say anything about that," Isyuk said. "The Red Cross has said in the past that it will pay no ransom and we maintain that policy."Vice governor Sahidulla, who had previously negotiated for Vagni's release, was alerted by the Abu Sayyaf to proceed to a village near Maimbung town after midnight where officials found the Italian, a navy spokesman said."He was abandoned and was picked up by government troops. Vagni says he still suffers from hernia, but that he is okay," the spokesman said, quoting military officials in Jolo.Vagni would be turned over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Zamboanga on Sunday afternoon, Arevalo said.Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had earlier confirmed Vagni's release and passed on his "gratitude to the Philippine authorities."Speaking on television later he added that the release was not the result of military action which Italy had resisted because it regarded it as potentially "dangerous" for the hostages.The head of the Italian Red Cross Francesco Rocca said Vagni's release was "an immensely happy event," adding: "We are preparing a big celebration."Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi welcomed the announcement describing the release as a "relief."Pope Benedict XVI had earlier called for Vagni to be freed, paying tribute to the Red Cross's "values of universality, neutrality and independence" at a weekly audience.In March a spokesman for Abu Sayyaf said one of the three captives would be beheaded if government forces did not withdraw from the island.Manila initially rejected the demand, but relented after the ICRC's president in Geneva made a rare public appeal for cooperation to save the lives of the three.Troops retreated from the Abu Sayyaf's jungle area, effectively leaving five towns on the island of Jolo under the group's control.Notter and Lacaba were freed the following month, although the terms of their release were not disclosed by either side.In April, a spokesman for the Philippine army also said that Vagni needed a hernia operation and that he could no longer walk.Then, last month, the militants made a fresh ransom demand for Vagni's release. At the end of the month Vagni was allowed to make a phone call to his wife in Italy in which he said he was "exhausted."Abu Sayyaf, which has regularly kidnapped foreigners and Christians, has been accused of having links to Al-Qaeda as well as the militant Jemaah Islamiyah network.That group was blamed for the 2002 bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali which claimed the lives of 202 people from 22 countries, including 88 Australians.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 ZAMBOANGA: Italian aid worker Eugenio Vagni was doing "remarkably well" in hospital early Sunday after his sudden release by Filipino rebels who held him for nearly six months, officials said.The 62 year-old was taken to a military hospital on the southern Jolo island for precautionary medical checks after the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group handed him over to province vice governor Nur-Ana Sahidulla shortly after midnight.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker, who suffers from hernia, had been known to be ill at various times during confinement."He's doing remarkably well considering the number of days he spent in captivity," ICRC spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk said while talking to a French news agency.Vagni was seized by the Abu Sayyaf militant group with ICRC colleagues Andreas Notter of Switzerland and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba in January during a humanitarian mission on Jolo, a hotbed of militant activity.The gunmen freed his two fellow hostages separately under unexplained circumstances in April.Isyuk declined to discuss the terms of his release while stressing that the international aid agency did not pay ransom.Local television station ABS-CBN quoted unnamed sources as saying Vagni would be effectively swapped for the two wives of Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad who were arrested along with four other kidnapping suspects in Jolo on Tuesday."I can't say anything about that," Isyuk said. "The Red Cross has said in the past that it will pay no ransom and we maintain that policy."Vice governor Sahidulla, who had previously negotiated for Vagni's release, was alerted by the Abu Sayyaf to proceed to a village near Maimbung town after midnight where officials found the Italian, a navy spokesman said."He was abandoned and was picked up by government troops. Vagni says he still suffers from hernia, but that he is okay," the spokesman said, quoting military officials in Jolo.Vagni would be turned over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Zamboanga on Sunday afternoon, Arevalo said.Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had earlier confirmed Vagni's release and passed on his "gratitude to the Philippine authorities."Speaking on television later he added that the release was not the result of military action which Italy had resisted because it regarded it as potentially "dangerous" for the hostages.The head of the Italian Red Cross Francesco Rocca said Vagni's release was "an immensely happy event," adding: "We are preparing a big celebration."Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi welcomed the announcement describing the release as a "relief."Pope Benedict XVI had earlier called for Vagni to be freed, paying tribute to the Red Cross's "values of universality, neutrality and independence" at a weekly audience.In March a spokesman for Abu Sayyaf said one of the three captives would be beheaded if government forces did not withdraw from the island.Manila initially rejected the demand, but relented after the ICRC's president in Geneva made a rare public appeal for cooperation to save the lives of the three.Troops retreated from the Abu Sayyaf's jungle area, effectively leaving five towns on the island of Jolo under the group's control.Notter and Lacaba were freed the following month, although the terms of their release were not disclosed by either side.In April, a spokesman for the Philippine army also said that Vagni needed a hernia operation and that he could no longer walk.Then, last month, the militants made a fresh ransom demand for Vagni's release. At the end of the month Vagni was allowed to make a phone call to his wife in Italy in which he said he was "exhausted."Abu Sayyaf, which has regularly kidnapped foreigners and Christians, has been accused of having links to Al-Qaeda as well as the militant Jemaah Islamiyah network.That group was blamed for the 2002 bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali which claimed the lives of 202 people from 22 countries, including 88 Australians.
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