By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A kidnapped Korean businessman was released early Wednesday on the outskirts of a southern Philippines city after being held captive for more than a month by a gang, say authorities.
Li Pei Zhei was turned over to police in Zamboanga around 3.30 local time (21.30 Tuesday Turkish time), Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, army public affairs chief, told the Anadolu Agency.
There was no news of any ransom being paid. Whereas kidnappers have claimed that large amounts of cash have exchanged hands for victims, the Philippines’ government has denied any such activity.
The release occurred a week after a man proclaiming to be an Abu Sayyaf spokesman posted on Facebook a video clip of bundles of 1000 Philippine peso bills wrapped in clear plastic in an effort to dispute reports that a ransom of P250 million ($5.56) was not paid when the al-Qaeda-linked group released two German hostages October 17.
"Alḥamdulillah [all praise and thanks to God]," shouts Abu Rami. "We counter the Philippine government that they said that no ransom policy. And now for the sake of the sharia Islam, the no ransom policy will be lost at this moment."
In the video, what appear to be Abu Sayyaf militants stand around the money while seemingly counting the ransom in Tausug (the language spoken in the province of Sulu).
The black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is prominent in the background. The Abu Sayyaf has publicly sworn allegiance to ISIL and asked that the German government stop supporting a bombing campaign against the group in Syria and Iraq as a condition of Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen's release.
Cabunoc told the AA Wednesday that the video is under investigation.
He stressed that the government had a no ransom policy, insisted that they had never negotiated with the Abu Sayyaf for the German couple’s release, and warned the public about the proliferation of counterfeit currency - especially with elections fast approaching.
Cabunoc said that the Korean national freed Wednesday was brought by his abductors from Basilan province - a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.
Li Pei Zhei was seized September 11 - one week after the Korean Embassy had thanked the Philippines police force for the arrest of four suspects in the kidnapping of a Korean student in March.
The United Korean Community Association in the Philippines had been raising funds to help police investigate crimes committed against Korean nationals in the country.
The Abu Sayyaf is still believed to be holding 14 hostages including two European bird watchers, Malaysians, a Japanese, and Filipinos.
The group has been reported to be hiding hostages in civilian communities, where it moves them from place to place to avoid capture.
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 in late September, after conducting airstrikes in Iraq since August.
Earlier Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the army to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf in the wake of its killing of six soldiers in Basilan on Sunday.
www.aa.com.tr/en
