Philippines, Libya Doubt U.S. Hostage’s Credibility

The Philippine government and the son of Libyan ruler Col. Moammar Kadafi cast doubt Friday on the credibility of an American being held hostage on Jolo island, saying he may be in cahoots with his captors.

Jeffrey Schilling, 24, an Oakland resident who converted to Islam in 1996, has been held since Aug. 28, when he walked into the camp of Abu Sayyaf rebels, reportedly because of his fascination with Islamic revolution. He was accompanied by his new Filipina wife, Ivi Osani, the cousin of a senior commander in the movement.

After his capture, there was speculation in Philippine intelligence circles that Schilling had another agenda, as an arms broker anxious to tap into the millions of dollars in ransom that Abu Sayyaf had collected. Others speculated that he had arranged his own kidnapping after agreeing to share his ransom with the group.

Western intelligence sources later talked to Osani, who was not held, and discounted the reports, dismissing Schilling as a young religious idealist who didn’t realize the danger of associating with his wife’s cousin, rebel commander Abu Sabaya.

“We believe Schilling is an innocent victim held against his wishes,” said one intelligence analyst who, like others in his profession, did not want to be quoted by name or nationality.

But Kadafi’s son Seif Islam, who was instrumental in winning the release of 10 Western hostages seized by Abu Sayyaf on April 23, told the French magazine Figaro that Schilling was not the victim of a “family squabble,” as Philippine officials had put it.

“We know now that Jeffrey Schilling was selling arms to the rebels,” he said, according to the Reuters news agency. “. . . He went to the rebel camp several times. He may have converted to Islam, but he is first and foremost an arms dealer.”

Libya has previously supported Abu Sayyaf with arms and money.

The government of President Joseph Estrada has voiced displeasure over two taped messages that Schilling made, broadcast by a radio station in the southern Philippines, that were sympathetic to Abu Sayyaf. Some officials said, however, that the remarks may have been coerced or that Schilling may have been the victim of “Stockholm syndrome,” in which hostages develop an affinity for their captors.

“Make sure you tell the Philippine government to stop the [military] operation because right now that’s the biggest threat to my life,” Schilling told his mother, Carol, in a telephone call broadcast Friday by the radio station. “Look, I can’t be released if the government is conducting operations and not negotiating.”

In a similar appeal Thursday, Schilling accused the Philippine armed forces of “indiscriminate” bombing in its offensive, begun last Saturday, to free himself and 18 other hostages and destroy Abu Sayyaf’s military capabilities. Two of the hostages, both French journalists, escaped this week.

Schilling also said the Philippine government, not Abu Sayyaf, is blocking his release.

“Look at the tone of what he is saying,” Estrada’s executive secretary, Ronaldo Zamora, told a Manila radio station. “Very clearly, if he is not involved, he has fallen for his kidnappers.”

Regardless of Schilling’s plea, 5,000 troops on Jolo pressed ahead Friday with their operation. Estrada’s press secretary, Ricardo Puno, said the task force had located the jungle hide-out where Schilling and his captors are holed up. Schilling and a Filipino resort worker, Roland Ullah, reportedly are being held together while the other hostages--12 Philippine evangelists and three Malaysians--have been moved elsewhere.

Ullah, the last hostage from a group of 21 seized in April on Malaysia’s Sipadan island and taken to Jolo, also is under suspicion. Philippine intelligence officers say the former Jolo resident--who had worked at the Sipadan resort for a year--may have provided Abu Sayyaf with the information needed to carry out the kidnapping.

“They couldn’t have pulled off the kidnapping on their own,” Estrada said Thursday. “They definitely had help. It was an inside job.”