Philippine Kidnapers Threaten Again to Behead Chinese HostagesHead of the Philippine kidnapping gang called "Pentagon" on August 27 announced to Chinese Embassy that if the Chinese government would not pay US $ 4 million for ransom, they would behead the two hostages.The gang head said on DXMS broadcasting on August 27 that "We would show them, if they (Chinese embassy) should not give us the money, we would kill Zhang Zhongyi and the Filipino Chinese businessman, Edwin, Lim. The gang head denied that they should take responsiblity for the death of Zhang Zhongqiang and Xue Xing. He claimed that they had planned to free Zhang Zhongyi and another hostage, but Philippine military side opened fire, causing them to fight back and gave up the idea to set free the hostages. He added that it was military's bullets that shot Zhang Zhongqiang and Xue Xing. But Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan denied the accusation immediately, he said that corpse report shows that the victims died of fatal shot from rear heads, that means they were shot dead within short range. Governor of north Cotabato Pinol said that the living rate for the remaining two hostages is little. So far, Philippine authority still could not get information about Zhang Zhongyi and Edwin Lim's situation. Pinol said that the kidnappers are very cruel, if they were once again surrounded by military police, they would kill the two. He said that he has notified Chinese embassy in Cebu, but he is not sure whether police could save the hostages. By PD Online staff member Li Yan |
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