The chairman of the local Red Cross chapter told Agence France-Presse that the Abu Sayyafs agreed to free one of their hostages who works for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in exchange for the military’s repositioning of its troops to allow the transfer.

Senator Richard Gordon said he secured the commitment from Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad late Wednesday, prompting him to hold emergency meetings with top defense and military officials.

"I talked to him last night," Gordon said. "The military is going to re-deploy out of the area so that one of our associates can get out."

"Soon as they pull out, the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] individual is going to go out," Gordon said.

Gordon did not specify who among the three workers of the ICRC will be released but he said that the three are alive but very tired. Gordon was able to talk to the leader of the Abu Sayyafs after the clash last Monday. Local media quoted Parad as threatening to behead one of the hostages, but the report could not be verified.

The ICRC issued a statement in Geneva saying that it had "taken note of the direct threats" by the Abu Sayyaf and urged them not to harm the hostages.

The ICRC and PNRC said in a joint statement that they were “extremely worried” for the three workers’ safety and appealed to their captors’ “sense of humanity.”

“The ICRC and the Philippine National Red Cross are appealing to the abductors’ sense of humanity and asking them to avoid taking any action that could endanger the lives of Mary Jean, Eugenio and Andreas,”

Source: Inquirer.net