Philippine troops rescue 72-year-old Filipino-Swiss businessman from kidnappers

Philippine troops rescue kidnapped Filipino-Swiss

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine troops rescued a Filipino businessman of Swiss descent Wednesday as suspected Muslim guerrillas who abducted him two months ago were moving him to a coastal village in the country’s south, officials said.

Several guerrillas fled after they landed onshore in Labuan township in the remote outskirts of Zamboanga city with their ailing captive, Charlie Reith, and saw government forces approaching before dawn, regional military commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said.

“They grabbed him at the first safe instance,” Dolorfino said of navy commandos who rescued Reith, a 72-year-old businessman who has had heart surgery.

Officials praised the successful rescue, the latest reminder of the often-violent kidnappings that have plagued the volatile south for decades and are blamed mostly on Muslim insurgents.

Last week, al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded three loggers they took hostage on nearby Basilan island.

Reith’s rescue was possible because military intelligence had monitored plans by the kidnappers to move him by boat to far-flung Labuan, about 560 miles (900 kilometers) south of Manila, Dolorfino told The Associated Press.

Weak, limping and visibly thinner, Reith was fed porridge and checked by doctors at a military camp then taken to Zamboanga city hall where he described to journalists his ordeal.

“The most difficult moment is when you have to break camp and move again and keep on moving. The terrain was very difficult … mostly on 80-degree slope,” Reith said. “You run very fast out of breath.”

During his captivity, Reith said he reflected on his life “like a documentary that passes in front of your eyes.” He was elated to find out that many worried about him and said he has no plan to leave Zamboanga, where he was born.

When asked if there was a day he did not feel threatened, he said: “I don’t think so.”

In the early days of his jungle captivity, Reith said a young rebel suggested he would be beheaded. His captors treated him better after he complained to their leader.

The kidnappers released a video a few weeks ago, showing Reith pleading for his life. They had demanded 20 million pesos ($435,000) and were negotiating with local officials at the time of the rescue, Dolorfino said.

Navy men and army troops were pursuing Reith’s kidnappers on land near Labuan, Rear Adm. Alex Pama said.

Gunmen seized Reith from a beach resort in Zamboanga on April 4. They also tried to kidnap his German friend, Karl Reichling, but he resisted and managed to get away.

Reith, who also has diabetes, was born to a Filipino mother and a Swiss father, Dolorfino said.

Authorities initially suspected the Abu Sayyaf was behind the abduction. Pama, however, said the kidnappers appeared to have been allied with another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Abu Sayyaf militants are notorious for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and deadly bombings in Zamboanga and the nearby islands of Basilan and Jolo. The larger Moro rebel front has been negotiating with the government for Muslim self-rule in the south.