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Walk-in hostage faces charges
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THE US Government is to file criminal charges against American national Jeffrey Schilling after discovering he allegedly connived with members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group in the Phillipines to fake his abduction.
Philippine meida on Monday said a team from the FBI had arrived in Manila to gather evidence in the case of the the 24-year-old Oakland, California, native.
Schilling has also reportedly committed a string of criminal offences in the US.
He voluntarily walked into the Abu Sayyaf camp in southern Jolo island with his Filipino wife when he was seized in August. The Phillipine Government refused to negotiate for his release following reports that he visited the camp to arrange an arms deal with the rebels. Police later found out that his wife was a relative of an Abu Sayyaf leader.
Schilling, along with Filipino dive master Roland Ullah, are the only remaining hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in the south.
The extremists early last year snatched dozens of foreign hostages in two cross-border raids into Malaysian resorts, but ransomed off most of the rest of the captives for millions of US dollars. A military operation to crush the Abu Sayyaf is ongoing in Jolo island on the southern tip of the Philippines.
The rebels have also been linked to a deadly wave of bomb attacks in Manila on Saturday that left 14 people dead and nearly 100 wounded. Philippine police said on Monday they were closing in on those responsible.(SD-Agencies)
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