US denies plan to charge hostage in Philippines

JAN 2: The United States embassy in Manila said on Tuesday there was no truth to a report that US authorities were planning to charge Amer...

JAN 2: The United States embassy in Manila said on Tuesday there was no truth to a report that US authorities were planning to charge American Jeffrey Schilling in connection with his abduction by Philippine Muslim rebels.

“That’s completely false,” press officer Lonnie Kelley said.

A Manila newspaper, quoting local police, said on Monday that US authorities were working with local police with a view to charging Schilling for allegedly conspiring with rebels who have held him on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines since August.

Schilling was among about 40 foreign and Filipino hostages taken by the Abu Sayyaf rebels from nearby Malaysian isles and from Jolo last year.

The rebels have freed most of them in exchange for ransom while some have escaped, leaving just Schilling and a Filipino still in guerrilla hands.

The police said the trio from Chandigarh — Rohan (21), Sumit (22), and Mohit (19) — were dhol players by profession and had procured the weapons due to an old rivalry with local residents.

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