Philippine bishop in hostage drama BBC May 25, 2005 A Roman Catholic bishop found himself answering an unusual call on Wednesday when he agreed to drive the get-away truck for a group of hostage takers. Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar sat in the front with three gunmen while about a dozen hostages were in the back. The bishop had agreed to drive them away from local police if the hostages were later released unharmed. The gunmen freed the hostages south of Pagadian on southern Mindanao island, then abandoned the bishop nearby. The drama began on Tuesday with what police believed was an attempted robbery of a bus travelling to the southern city of Zamboanga. The gunmen, who got on at Plaridel, are thought to have panicked when spotted by police at a checkpoint and taken passengers hostage. A stand-off with police ensued, and the gunmen, armed with grenades, a machine gun and pistols, agreed to release some of the hostages. Crash Police then agreed that they could travel somewhere unhindered, where they would leave the passengers unharmed. But the bus' driver is reported to have deliberately crashed the bus into a ditch and fled. The rebels and their hostages then transferred to a pick-up truck and Bishop Cabajar, who had become involved in the negotiations, said he would drive. Their vehicle was trailed by police and journalists, before the gunmen ordered the hostages to jump out of the truck along a road south of Pagadian. They were then taken to hospitals. The bishop was abandoned in the remote town of Lakewood, west of Pagadian. He went on to hold a thanksgiving mass. One of the gunmen told local radio that they belonged to the New People's Army communist rebel group, but a local rebel spokesman, Ismael Marte, denied the men were guerrillas. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
