By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
In an early morning phone call to a Philippines radio station Monday, two Germans held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Sulu appealed to their government to save their lives.
“I'm suffering a lot because I was taken hostage... and now I have to lay on the ground, to sleep on the ground... and my medical condition worsened, and I fear a lot for myself," said 71-year-old Stefan Viktor Okonek.
The couple disappeared in waters off Palawan Island on April 25 while sailing to Malaysia for a holiday, and were reported missing after Filipino fishermen spotted their empty yacht.
Earlier this month, the al-Qaeda-linked group threatened to behead one of them October 10 unless a P250-million ($5.62-million) ransom is paid and Germany stops supporting a U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Herike Diesen, 55, told Radio Mindanao Network's "Straight to the Point" show that she just wished to see her family again, adding that the situation is "very, very stressful, and we are not sure how long we can suffer.”
“Living in the jungle is also very dangerous, because we can contract any tropical disease – malaria or something – so we're very, very keen to get out of here as soon as possible.”
The two were ushered onto the phone after a man proclaiming to be an Abu-Sayyaf spokesperson called the show around 7:30 a.m. (2.30 a.m. Turkish local time) Monday morning.
Identifying himself as a medical doctor, Okonek said he “came to the Philippines for a happy holiday, but "unfortunately that did not happen,” and asked that his government do all it can to free them.
The spokesperson, identifying himself as Abu Rame, said that the couple was being held on Sulu - an island province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao - adding that the ultimatum for the German government had been given because Abu-Sayyaf is engaged in similar activities to the ISIL to defend its homeland.
The man then allowed Okonek and Diesen to appeal to their families and the governments of Germany and the Philippines, but prohibited the two from being interviewed.
"[They] want to give message to their families because first and foremost the ultimatum nears expiration," said Rame in Tagalog, the language spoken by around a quarter of the population of the Philippines.
Last week, a Twitter account message attributed to the group said “Abu Sayyaf says #Manila should pay 250 million Pesos, #Germany should stop supporting US in its war on #ISIL."
A photograph accompanying the message shows masked gunmen, one of them gesturing to strike the German couple with a bolo - a knife similar to a machete.
A demand and photo - also attributed to a Abu Rami - were posted on website “World Analysis” - which calls itself a nonpartisan, open-source information resource for geopolitical events worldwide.
One of the photos showed Okonek and Diesen behind a German flag, surrounded by at least 10 gunmen in a forest. A black flag with an Arabic inscription can be seen in the background.
The demand read: “The Abu Sayyaf is warning the families of the hostages and the German government, and the Philippine government — first, you give us our demand of P250 million up to October 10, 2014 — or we will behead one of the hostage; secondly, Germany must cease its support to America on the killings of our brother Muslims in Iraq and Sham (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine), and our brother mujahedeen.”
The army has since dispatched around 1,000 extra soldiers to its troubled south to strengthen security following the threat.
Security forces on the island province of Basilan said Sunday they had foiled a bomb plot by suspected members of the group after the discovery of an improvised explosive device in the city of Isabela.
The Abu Sayyaf are understood to have carried out a series of bombings in the city last week, damaging a warehouse and toppling a power line. They came in the wake of a town mayor's claim that the group is actively recruiting young people on the island.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
ISIL has captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, later declaring the territories under its control an Islamic "caliphate." The U.S. and its Arab allies began bombing ISIL targets inside Syria on Tuesday, after conducting airstrikes in Iraq since August.
www.aa.com.tr/en
