Filipino-Chinese trader kidnapped in S. Philippines

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-03 14:11

COTABATO, Philippines -- The Philippine police authority said a Filipino-Chinese trader was kidnapped by gunmen Monday afternoon in Sulu province, the tenth abduction in less than a month in the insurgency-infested region of Mindanao.

Philippine police and military officials in Mindanao said on Tuesday they are monitoring the case but have not gained any progress.

Diokhing Que, 60, was a local grocery store owner in Jolo island. He was snatched by four armed men on his way home from the store in the village of Kakuyangan, regional police commander Chief Superintendent Benzali Jabarani said.

"We suspect the involvement of Abu Sayyaf in the latest kidnapping because no other group would do such things in Sulu," he added.

A yellow jeepney (a jeep-like vehicle) used by the kidnappers for escape was recovered by the security forces.

Yang Fengwu, an official with the Chinese Consulate General in Cebu, said the consulate is gathering information about Que's identity while trying to establish contact with the victim's family.

Yang said the consulate is relying on the efforts of Filipino- Chinese communities in Zamboanga city and so far can not confirm whether Que is of Chinese nationality.

Police said Que is married to a Filipina Tausug and has long been residing in the island.

The latest kidnapping case, following the abduction of three Red Cross officers, three teachers, a mid-wife, a 9-year-old boy and one businessman, highlighted the worrisome security in Mindanao, a lair of the kidnap-for-ransom rebel group Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf armed men kidnapped a young Chinese store assistant in Jolo city last December. There is no development on the rescue operation since then. Local Filipino-Chinese community leaders feared the victim might have been killed as abductors got no prospect of ransom payment on him.

The Abu Sayyaf is a rebel group with some 380 members blamed for a series of kidnappings and terror attacks in the Southeast Asian country, including the bombing of a ferry near Manila Bay in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.