Abu Sayyaf demands Germany to stay out US-led fight against Islamic State group and $5.62mn in cash.
Germany is keeping quiet about any efforts to secure the release of two nationals taken hostage while sailing in the western Philippines in April. The government in Berlin as well as authorities in Manila have thus far refused to agree to the demands of the abductors.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists," Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
The US-based terrorism monitoring group SITE reported that the extremists said they would kill one of two German hostages (main picture) unless a 250 million pesos (5.62 million USD) ransom was paid and Berlin stopped supporting the US-led campaign against the "Islamic State" (IS) group in Iraq and Syria. Manila responded on September 25, saying the Philippine government doesn't negotiate with Islamist militants. "We will not be intimidated by these gestures and actions. We will continue to contain them," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.
The German hostages - aged 71 and 55 - are thought to have been seized by the rebels from their yacht off the western province of Palawan on April 25. The Abu Sayyaf (ASG), a small group of Islamic militants based in the southern Philippines, have been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines and high-profile kidnappings of foreign hostages. At least one ASG commander has pledged allegiance to IS.
Joseph Franco, a terrorism expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, says in a DW interview that while the group may present itself as an organization aimed at establishing a caliphate across Mindanao, it is not primarily driven by ideology, but by financial interests. But while the group may be weaker than before, there are good reasons to take their ransom demands seriously, he adds.
He said Philippine authorities appear to have taken the demands quite seriously and with good reason. The ASG has executed Western hostages before as seen in the beheading of American Guillermo Sobero in 2001. It must be pointed out however, that 2001 was when the ASG was at the height of its armed capability and was flush with cash after ransom payments were made for the release of previously kidnapped foreigners.
Abu Sayyaf is fighting for separation from the largely Catholic country, and the creation of an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. In April 2000, the group kidnapped foreign holiday makers, including a German family. Libya's then head of state Moammar Gadhafi intervened to help secure their release.
Over the past decade, the terrorist organization has largely made a name for itself through criminal activities, and any ideological motives or symbolic targets have faded into the background. And that, Heiduk said, means nobody really knows who is in charge.
"The founding generation has been arrested or eliminated," he told DW, adding that the fact that they pledge allegiance with IS does not necessarily mean the two groups have close ties.
In an interview with Germany's daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Philippine President Benigno Aquino characterised this group as 'Fickle followers'. He said Abu Sayyaf previously claimed links with al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah.
"If a new group is founded next month, they will want to be part of that. Their actions, particularly the kidnapping of tourists, has little to do with fundamentalism," he said. "We expect the peace agreement will gradually remove support for groups like Abu Sayyaf, because they will lose their safe haven."
The ASG is self-sufficient and, aside from kidnapping, are known to engage in extortion and protection rackets (reportedly for marijuana growers in Sulu), so it is very unlikely that they have any foreign funding.
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