Manila (ICRC) -- Efforts are continuing to secure the safe and unconditional return of three abducted staff members from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the organization said on Tuesday.

Five days have gone by since Mary-Jean Lacaba, Andreas Notter and Eugenio Vagni were seized by an unidentified group of armed men on the southern Philippines island of Sulu.

"Our main concern is to ensure that they continue to be unharmed and that they are let go, without any conditions, as quickly as possible," said Alain Aeschlimann, the head of the ICRC's operations for Asia Pacific in Geneva.

"The ICRC is also very concerned about the effect that rumours, conveyed by media, may have on the families of our kidnapped colleagues.

"We will not comment on public speculation about who is holding them, where or why," he added.

"We are being guarded in our statements because we do not want anything to jeopardize our colleagues' safety or well-being.

We hope that everyone will respect this." The ICRC's staff in the Philippines have been handling this very delicate situation in parallel with the organization's usual activities, which continue as normal.

The ICRC may send a couple of additional employees to the Philippines to provide relief and support to the organization's existing team.

The regular rotation of personnel is part of the ICRC's operational routine.

The ICRC has had regular contact with its kidnapped colleagues since Friday, but not with the kidnappers.

Its last call with the three abducted staff was on Monday.

"We continue to hope that our colleagues will soon be able to hold their families and friends in their arms and they can return to their activities in favour of people in need in the Philippines," concluded Aeschlimann.


For further information, please contact:
Carla Haddad Mardini, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26
Roland Bigler, ICRC Manila, tel: +63 2 892 89 01 or +63 918 907 2125
Anna Nelson, ICRC Manila, tel:+632 892 89 01 or tel: +63 918 683 0184
Rene Guioguio, ICRC Manila, tel:+632 892 89 01 or +63 928 550 4136


See also ICRC media contacts

This article on www.icrc.org