ZAMBOANGA CITY: A new video of the Australian adventurer kidnapped in Zamboanga has surfaced in YouTube, giving fresh hope that he is still alive.

Warren Rodwell, 57, was kidnapped in 2011 by armed men disguised as policemen who barged into his house in the coastal town of Ipil in Zamboanga del Sur province.

A former soldier, Rodwell is believed as being held in Basilan province but there are reports that Abu Sayyaf rebels tried but failed to bring him to Sulu province.

Philippine authorities tied the Abu Sayyaf to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and they have been largely blamed for the kidnappings of many foreigners in Mindanao.

Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz, commander of the First Infantry Division, said that Rodwell was last reported being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf.

“Our efforts to locate Warren Rodwell are continuing, but the kidnappers have been constantly moving from one location to another and that is our problem now. He is also being used by the Abu Sayyaf as human shield and the safety of Warren is our top concern also,” Cruz told The Manila Times.

In the latest video clip, Rodwell was wearing a black sweatshirt and appeared cleanly shaven, but frail and holding a copy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated December 15, 2012.

As Rodwell spoke to the camera, his eyes repeatedly blinked and he would randomly looked to his left and his right and occasionally look above the camera as if he was trying to decipher a gesture or a hand signal from his captors.

In the entire two-minute clip, a man was heard coughing repeatedly, while Rodwell spoke about his ordeal and at the end expressed hopelessness about his situation. At one point in the clip, he said that he does not trust either the Abu Sayyaf or the Australian government.

“My name is Warren Richard Rodwell from Australia, today is Sunday, December 16, 2012 and this newspaper is Saturday, December 15, 2012. I have been held prisoner, kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf Muslim terrorist group for over one year, actually 54 weeks today. I was kidnapped on December 5, 2011. This video clip today is to say that I am alive. I am waiting to be released. I have no idea what’s going on outside. I am just kept, held prisoner in isolation,” Rodwell said in the video.

“Again, I am alive. It’s 378 days I think, something like that. This newspaper is from the Philippines. If any, honestly and if there is some negotiation I do not get any information and the people around me don’t normally speak English and I understand something is happening but I don’t know when. I do not expect to be released before the year 2013 at the earliest. I personally hold no hope at all for being release. I do not trust the Abu Sayyaf, I do not trust the Australian government. I just don’t trust anyone, personally, I don’t care,” he added.

Australia welcomes news
Meanwhile, Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr welcomed the news on Thursday that Rodwell was alive, but said that his prolonged captivity was a “major concern.”

“The Philippines government has the lead in response to this case and is devoting significant resources to securing Mr. Rodwell’s release,” Carr said in a statement.

“The Australian government is assisting Philippines authorities where appropriate.”

Carr said that government officials were also in regular contact with Rodwell’s family and it would “not be helpful to Mr. Rodwell to comment further.”

The Philippines military said that it was working to verify whether the video was legitimate.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines will take measures in support to the Philippine National Police . . . to fully ascertain the identity and if possible, the whereabouts of the individual if he is a kidnap victim,” said Major Emmanuel Garcia, the military’s deputy chief for public affairs.

Rodwell last appeared in a video in May that was believed to be dated from the end of March.

In another video in January, reportedly sent to his Filipina wife Miraflor Gutang, Rodwell said that his captors were demanding $2-million ransom.

Aside from Rodwell, Abu Sayyaf and the Moro National Liberation Front are said to be holding two European wildlife photographers—Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland—who were also kidnapped earlier this year in Tawi-Tawi province. The Abu Sayyaf is also still holding a Japanese man and three Filipinos in Sulu.

Philippine authorities have imposed a news blackout on the kidnappings of the foreigners, although there were reports that negotiations for the safe release of Rodwell and the other foreigners are going on.

WITH A REPORT FROM AFP