U.S. pineapple plantation in south attacked

Unidentified gunmen attacked a U.S. pineapple plantation in the southern Philippines, blasting its main water pipeline, but the military said there were no casualties or serious damage to facilities.

The military said the attack occurred late on Thursday when a grenade explosion blasted the pipeline of the Dole Food Co. in Maligo district in south Cotabato's Polomolok town.

The motive behind the attack was unknown, but a military report said four people were being held in connection with the blast.

One of the suspects was said to be the brother of a separatist rebel, who is a member of the Pentagon Gang, a southern-based criminal organisation that specialises in kidnapping foreigners.

In January, two members of the Pentagon Gang were killed when they tried to storm the house of Christopher H. Hubbard, Asia director for agriculture at multinational fruits giant, Dole Food Co., in south Cotabato province.

The United States has included the Pentagon Gang on its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations, alongside the Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front and its armed wing, the New People's Army.

The military said kidnappers also freed late yesterday a court employee they abducted on November 20 in Lanao del Norte province.

Provincial army commander Col. Ernesto Boac, said gunmen released Nimrod Castillon in Kalanganan district in Pantar town after a series of government negotiations led by Rep. Bobby Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte. Boac said no ransom was paid by negotiators in exchange for the release of Castillon.

"I think aside from the negotiations, the kidnappers had too much pressure from the police and military. We know where they had been hiding and we're prepared to assault their hideout, but we gave a little time to the negotiators to convince the kidnappers to free the hostage. They don't have a choice here, but to free the victim," Boac told reporters.

Security forces were sent to the province to pursue the kidnappers, he added. Apart from Castillon, the military said gunmen freed a kidnapped Filipino-Chinese couple, Sonny Chua and his wife, Emily, in Cadayonan village in Pantar town in Lanao del Sur province, two days after they were seized in the village of Adapun in Balo-i town in Lanao del Sur.

The victims were in a truck when gunmen waylaid the vehicle and seized them on Friday. The military said Mayor Franklin Quijano and unnamed provincial officials helped negotiate for their safe release.

Military southern command spokesman Maj. Johnny Macanas said the duo were kidnapped after they failed to pay money to extortionists.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest abduction, but Muslim and communist rebels are known to operate in Lanao del Sur. Security forces were sent to the province to hunt down the kidnappers.