Philippine Hostage Rescue Mission
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
JOLO, Philippines (AP) -
Military troops used cannons Friday to pound areas of a southern Philippine island where
Muslim rebels were sighted fleeing with their hostages toward coastal areas, officials
said.
Two factions of Abu Sayyaf
rebels, each with hostages, were headed toward the coast of Jolo island, apparently in an
attempt to leave the island and escape a heavy military assault, the officials said.
One of the 17 hostages,
American Jeffrey Schilling, criticized the assault Friday during a satellite telephone
call to a radio station, calling it ``the biggest threat to my life.''
He asked the government to halt
the attack and ``hurry up and conduct negotiations so I can be released as soon as
possible.''
``The only way this problem can
be resolved is through negotiation,'' he said in the radio interview.
President Joseph Estrada's
government has been embarrassed by criticism of the rescue assault from several foreign
countries and two French journalists who escaped from the rebels earlier this week. All
said the assault could endanger the lives of the hostages.
Several Philippine officials
accused Schilling of parroting his captors' views and growing sympathetic to their cause.
Schilling's relaxed interview
with the Radio Mindanao Network - his second in less than two days - suggested the Abu
Sayyaf rebels were under less immediate military pressure than Philippine officials have
indicated.
Schilling's mother, Carol, was
telephoned in Oakland, Calif., by the radio station and confirmed that the voice was her
son's and asked the rebels to release him unharmed.
``Jeffrey is not your enemy and
I am not your enemy,'' she said.
An Abu Sayyaf faction grabbed
Schilling, a Muslim convert, three weeks ago when he visited a rebel camp with his
Filipino wife.
A separate faction led by
Ghalib ``Robot'' Andang is believed to be holding 16 other hostages.
In Jolo's capital, windows
shook with each blast from the howitzer cannons aimed at Indanan, the area where local
officials said Andang's group was seen.
The group holding Schilling was
sighted by villagers crossing the mountains into a coastal village in Panamao, Jolo police
said.
Local residents saw about 30
rebels in the group and said they were looking for boats, Congressman Asani Tammang said.
``It's really like
hide-and-seek. The rebels are running, not fighting,'' he said.
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