Islamic rebels holding 20 people hostage on the remote Philippine island of Jolo kidnapped a German journalist for the second time in the space of a month yesterday in an apparent bid to raise the stakes in their $20 million ransom demand.
German media reports said Andreas Lorenz, a correspondent for the weekly magazine Der Spiegel, was abducted at gunpoint by members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic faction fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the south of the country, while on a trip into the jungle to try to interview the hostages.
Mr Lorenz, who has been covering the Philippine hostage crisis since it began in April, was among a group of 11 European journalists who last month bribed their way into the rebel encampment and were subsequently forced to pay $25,000 more to ransom themselves out.
Der Spiegel said it had not been in contact with Mr Lorenz yesterday, but his kidnapping was confirmed by Philippines police in the southern province of Sulu. The journalist's driver, who saw the abduction, said their jeep was ambushed by a group of armed rebels, who dragged Mr Lorenz to their vehicle, ordering him to "stop shouting". The driver was then allowed to escape.
The kidnapping coincided with publication of a letter by one of the German hostages, Ms Renate Wallert, in the Philippines' Inquirer newspaper.
Ms Wallert wrote that she and the other hostages were "in a dreadful situation living under the worst possible conditions" and had been refused access to doctors for more than a month.
Ms Wallert, who is suffering from high blood pressure and has difficulty walking, recently issued a desperate plea in an interview with Der Spiegel saying: "We are dying here, and there is nothing we can do." Another hostage, a South African, Ms Monique Strydom, is believed to have suffered a miscarriage.
The rebels' leader, Mr Galib Andang, was reported to have told the Inquirer that journalists would no longer be allowed to visit the camp where the western hostages are being held.
Germany was said last month to be considering an offer of "humanitarian aid" to the hostage-takers to resolve the impasse. Berlin has refused to discuss its handling of the crisis for fear of jeopardising any deal with the rebels.
On Saturday, the rebels reportedly allowed a dozen Christian missionaries into their camp after the religious group offered "a gift" of 70 sacks of rice and about $3,000.
But the evangelists were apparently not allowed to see any of the hostages, who were being held in a separate location.
Heavily armed Islamic insurgents first kidnapped the hostages from the remote Malaysian resort island of Sipadan on Easter Sunday.
They were then taken by boat to Jolo, a southern Philippines guerrilla stronghold.
The latest incident coincided with increasing international pressure on the embattled government of President Joseph Estrada to recover the 20 hostages still in rebel hands.
The long-running hostage saga and renewed fighting with the main rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have confronted Mr Estrada with his most serious security challenge.