Editing Abu Sayyaf (section)

=====Jeffrey Schilling=====
On August 31, 2000, American citizen and Muslim convert Jeffrey Schilling from [[Oakland, California]], was captured on [[Jolo]] while visiting a terrorist camp with his new wife, Ivy Osani (a cousin of Abu Sabaya, one of the rebel leaders), whom he had met online. ASG demanded a $10&nbsp;million ransom. Rebels also sarcastically threatened to behead him in 2001 as a "birthday present" to then Philippine President [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]], who responded by declaring "all-out war" on them. The beheading threat was withdrawn after Schilling's mother, Carol, flew to the Philippines and appealed for mercy on local radio. On April 12, 2001, Philippine soldiers raided a rebel camp and rescued the American. The United States praised the Philippine government for freeing Schilling.<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=April 13, 2001 |title=Philippine Soldiers Rescue U.s. Hostage |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/04/13/philippine-soldiers-rescue-us-hostage/ |access-date=February 4, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204000239/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-04-13/news/0104130152_1_abu-sayyaf-ivy-osani-american-hostage-jeffrey-schilling |archive-date=February 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-hostage-freed-in-philippines/ |work=CBS News |date=April 12, 2001 |title=US Hostage Freed in Philippines |access-date=May 2, 2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202013154/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/04/02/world/main283170.shtml }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/bn/date/2002-07-23/segment/01 |title=Larry Thompson, Deputy Attorney General (Live Transcript) |date=July 23, 2002 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>

Many commentators have been critical of Schilling, who claims to have walked willingly into the camp after he was invited by his wife's cousin, a member of Abu Sayyaf.<ref>{{cite news |author=Johnson |first=Chip |date=April 14, 2001 |title=What Was Schilling Thinking? Oblivious Oakland Man Sets Himself Up |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/14/MNE165246.DTL}}</ref>

Schilling was one of more than 40 hostages taken by Abu Sayyaf in 2000, including 21 tourists and workers seized in a raid on [[#2000 Sipadan kidnappings|Sipadan]] diving resort in neighboring Malaysia. Many of the hostages were released after Libya paid millions of dollars. A Libyan official stated that Schilling had visited the Jolo camp often before his capture. Philippine intelligence sources say he was interested in selling military equipment to the rebels, while the bandits accused him of being a CIA agent. Abu Sayyaf threatened several times to kill Schilling. At one stage, Schilling reportedly went on a hunger strike to win his freedom.<ref name="Chicago Tribune"/>