MANILA, Philippines—The kidnappers of the three aid workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are ready to negotiate for the release of their captives and want Vice President Noli de Castro to lead the talks.

Albader Parad, a commander of the Abu Sayyaf, told this reporter on the phone on Monday night that he and his comrades were holding Andreas Notter of Switzerland, Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Mary Jean Lacaba of the Philippines—the first time it was confirmed that the bandit group was behind the Jan. 15 kidnapping.

To prove his statement, Parad said in Filipino: “You want to speak to the three? They’re here beside me,” and passed the phone first to Notter and then to Lacaba.

Notter and Lacaba said they were in good condition. But this reporter was unable to speak with Vagni because the phone signal turned weak when it was his turn.

Parad named nine other persons as part of what appeared to be a negotiating “entourage” to be led by De Castro: Sen. Richard Gordon, the ambassadors of Switzerland, Italy and Qatar, Rep. Mujib Hataman, Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan, lawyer Muktan Suhaili, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan and Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Anne Sahidullah.

He said that while he was the physical custodian of the captives, other Abu Sayyaf leaders would be present at the negotiation, including the current amir, Radhullan Sahiron, and the other top commanders, Abu Jurdain (also known as Dr. Abu) and Isnilon Hapilon.

Asked why his group wanted De Castro as the government’s chief negotiator, Parad said simply: “Isn’t he the official closest to the President? He can tell her the assistance that we want.”

“Why not ask for President Macapagal-Arroyo if it’s her help that you want?” this reporter asked.

Parad replied: “Why, does the President go to Sulu, or to the mountains? Noli has gone to the mountains and knows the terrain.”

In 2000, De Castro played a role in the negotiation for the release of women and children snatched by the Abu Sayyaf from an elementary school in Basilan and dragged to Puno Mahadji. He was instrumental in the release of some of the captives. (What Went Before)

As for the security of the negotiators, Parad said he could ensure their safety only if the military would pull out from the detachments situated near the place where the captives were being held.

“There are many detachments near where we are. The military should leave to allow for safe negotiations. As in the Sipadan incident, all the negotiators were able to return; no one was injured,” he said.

A letter purportedly signed by Parad and Sahiron and coursed through Sahidullah when she visited the kidnappers’ lair in the hinterlands of Sulu on Sunday stated the Abu Sayyaf’s wish for De Castro to head a panel of negotiators.

Reacting to the letter, De Castro on Tuesday said he was ready to help secure the safe release of the three ICRC aid workers, but wanted to know the terms.

The Vice President said the government was verifying the signatures in the letter.

He added in Filipino: “Our government is doing everything to rescue the captives as soon as possible. And if I can help secure their safety, I am prepared to wholeheartedly render service. In the meantime, the local government is focused on the problem.”

Treated well

On the phone with this reporter, Notter said: “We are fine. They treat us fine, but my colleagues suffered severe diarrhea. They’re now in good condition after they took medicine provided by our office. Aside from that, we’re being treated well. We just really do not know what they want.”

Notter said he and his two colleagues were being held together, and that there was no instance that they were separated from one another.

He also confirmed that he and his colleagues were allowed to regularly get in touch not only with their office but also with their respective families.

“All our families know how we are doing. We talk to them, but what we do not know is what exactly [our kidnappers] want,” Notter said, adding that he and his colleagues had no idea what group was holding them.

Notter also disclosed that a Sulu-based reporter had been allowed access to the captives.

This was later confirmed by Parad. He identified the reporter as Niki Butlangan, and said the latter had taken video footage of the captives and conducted a short interview with him.

Said Notter: “I was asked to make an appeal for a negotiator, but we have no idea if it has come out in the media.”

No one negotiating

Next on the phone, Lacaba confirmed in Filipino that she had suffered severe diarrhea and had recovered.

She said she spoke with her husband on Sunday (“He knows I’m now OK, that I’ve taken medication”), and that their meals consisted mostly of fish, rice, bread and biscuits (“We eat whatever they eat”).

Echoing Notter, Lacaba said she and her colleagues did not know what their kidnappers wanted.

“All we know is, there is no one negotiating for us. It seems there is difficulty entering our area, and our kidnappers specify who can come in,” she said, adding:

“What we’re hoping for is for someone to help us. [Our kidnappers] always speak with our officers, but that’s not the negotiation. Our kidnappers always relay our condition, that we’re OK, that the line is open.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, ICRC Asia-Pacific operations head Alain Aeschlimann said packages were sent on Saturday to the three abducted personnel through the “local authorities” in Jolo, Sulu.

“Yes, our colleagues say they received the package we sent, which included medication, some books and other personal effects,” Aeschlimann said.

He said Lacaba, Notter and Vagni “were able to make contact over the weekend by phone.”

“We spoke to all three and they continue to say they are doing fine,” he said.

Sipadan

Parad would not say what he or his group wanted, and denied that he had said anything about ransom or money.

“I’ve spoken to no one about any ransom demand; I don’t know where that report came from. Neither did I say anything about any livelihood project. The vice governor who came here, we did not speak. It was even I who took her picture with the captives. She said she just wanted to know if the hostages were alive; that’s why she needed a picture,” he said.

Parad was referring to the statement made by Sahidullah last week that the kidnappers wanted their own livelihood program. She visited the captives at an undisclosed place on Wednesday and returned with a photograph of them.

But while Parad was not saying what it was they wanted in exchange for the captives’ freedom, he made it clear that they wanted negotiations.

Parad said that recently, he was able to speak on the phone with Gordon, the chair of the Philippine National Red Cross.

He said he told Gordon that he wanted to explain what his group wanted in person.

Parad recalled the Sipadan hostage crisis in 2000 “when the military withdrew, the negotiators were able to come in, there was no armed encounter, only serious talks.”

This is the negotiation that he wants to emulate.

Sidekick

Parad was not a key player in the negotiation for the release of 21 mostly European nationals—the biggest catch of the Abu Sayyaf in the history of their “kidnapping escapades.”

It was Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot and Mujib Susukan who ran the “show” at that time. Parad was their sidekick then, barely 17-years-old and looking up to them as his mentors and idols.

But although not a key player, Parad was privy to the negotiation every step of the way. He was present every time Robot and Susukan spoke with the government-appointed negotiators then led by Robert Aventajado.

Parad’s idols are dead now—Susukan was killed in an encounter with government troops; Robot was among those who perished in the bloody siege of the Taguig jail in 2005. With reports from Cynthia D. Balana and Kristine L. Alave