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Search on for body of farmer beheaded by Islamic militants

Philippine National Police (PNP) teams were continuing a search for the body of a farm owner who was beheaded by militants in the country's volatile south, a senior official told Gulf News.

  • By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
  • Published: 22:56 May 18, 2009
  • Gulf News

Manila: Philippine National Police (PNP) teams were continuing a search for the body of a farm owner who was beheaded by militants in the country's volatile south, a senior official told Gulf News.

Policemen, with the assistance of government soldiers, were ordered to look for the body of Doroteo Gonzales in Akbar town, Basilan province, said Mayor Roderick Furrigan of nearby Lamitan.

"It is important to find his body. Authorities want to establish where he was killed by the Abu Sayyaf Group, whose members will be held liable for the murder," said Furrigan.

Last Sunday, townspeople discovered the severed head of Gonzales in Akbar town where he is believed to have been brought by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). His captors had demanded a 25-million peso (Dh1.9 million) ransom for his release.

On April 21, suspected ASG militants abducted Gonzales from his house in southern Zamboanga City and eventually brought him to Basilan Island.

Local government authorities put up a reward of 500,000 pesos for information on the whereabouts of ASG members and their hostages in the South.

Meanwhile, Jolo Governor Abdulsakur Tan said he has mobilised his negotiating team and the military and police to continue looking for Italian Eugenio Vagni, a Red Cross worker who was kept by the ASG in a safe house in Jolo.

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