Philippine kidnappers say prepared for showdown
with military
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Sept 13
(AFP) - Muslim rebels holding American, French, Malaysian and Filipino hostages in the
Philippines warned Wednesday they are prepared for a bloody showdown with President Joseph
Estrada.
Abu Sabaya, a spokesman for the
Abu Sayyaf, said the rebel group was waiting for a decision by Estrada, who cut short a US
trip and returned to Manila earlier Wednesday to chair a high-level security meeting on
the 144-day-old hostage crisis.
"We shall await its
decision whether to negotiate with us or order a military rescue operation," Sabaya
told local radio DXRZ here.
"We are ready and prepared
to counter any military operation even with the superpower," he said.
Sabaya also likened the rebels
to dust, which easily disperses once the wind blows.
Any rescue attempt could
"become like Basilan" in which scores of rebels and soldiers as well as hostages
could be killed, he warned.
The Philippine military
attacked an Abu Sayyaf mountain hideout in nearby Basilan island in May after the gunmen
beheaded two men among about 50 Filipino hostages.
Four of the hostages were shot
at close range as the rebels fled, while dozens of soldiers and rebels also died in the
campaign. Fifteen of the hostages were rescued while the rebels later handed over three
others to government negotiators.
The Basilan leaders, including
Sabaya and Khadafy Janjalani, fled to nearby Jolo island, where another Abu Sayyaf faction
was holding 21 people snatched from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in April.
Only one Sipadan hostage, a
Filipino dive instructor, remains with the group after the last four European hostages
were turned over to Libya last week.
The gunmen still hold 15 other
Filipinos, two French television journalists, American Jeffrey Schilling, and three
Malaysians who were snatched in the rebels' latest cross border raid on Sunday.
Sabaya has threatened to behead
Schilling, who his group accuses of being a US spy.
Rebel ranks have also swelled,
with thousands of new recruits and sympathizers joining the rebels, Sabaya warned.
"We were only 50 then when
they attacked our base in Basilan and now our group has grown with thousands of followers
and sympathizers," he said.
"We are now more radical
than our slain leader Abdurajak and our patience is thin," he said, reffering to
Khadafy Janjalani's older brother who was killed in a 1998 shootout with police.
Estrada conferred with his top
security officials Wednesday and his spokesman Ricardo Puno later said "all options
are open" in the hostage crisis.
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