| ABU SAYYAF
HENCHMEN SORE OVER LACK OF PAY Only a dozen members of the group have received a share of the ransom
and the others have started firing guns into the air to show their anger
JOLO -- Henchmen of the Muslim
extremist Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holding 39 foreign and local hostages are angered by their
failure to get a share of ransom earnings, according to sources here.
Only about a dozen members of
the Abu Sayyaf had received a share of the money the outlaw group has garnered so far from
the hostages they are holding in the southern island of Jolo, sources close to the
kidnappers said.
The others, serving as guards
of the hostages, have not received anything and have begun firing guns into the air
indiscriminately to show their resentment, but have not harmed the hostages or the leaders
of the Abu Sayyaf, the sources said.
Other sources said on Saturday
the Abu Sayyaf had raised their ransom demand for three French TV journalists they are
holding from about 100 million pesos (S$4 million) to US$1 million (S$1.74 million) each.
The Abu Sayyaf originally
seized nine Malaysians, two Filipinos, three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South
Africans and a Lebanese woman from Sipadan.
Three Filipinos kidnapped
earlier in Basilan island were also taken to Jolo.
Sources close to the rebels
said a group of Filipino Muslims living in Malaysia, acting as emissaries, paid the Abu
Sayyaf about US$3 million for the freedom of all nine Malaysians and the release of the
remaining Malaysian hostages was forthcoming.--AFP, Reuters
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