End is near for rebels on Philippines hostage
island: Estrada
MANILA, Oct 3 (AFP) -
Philippine President Joseph Estrada on Tuesday triumphantly presented 12 rescued Christian
evangelists to the world and said the end was near for a Muslim guerrilla group still
holding five hostages.
The rescue of the Jesus Miracle
Crusade members from the Abu Sayyaf on Monday should "signal the early recovery of
the remaining hostages," Estrada told a news conference attended by the freed
captives, including their ailing leader Wilde Almeda who was carried in a litter and on
life support.
"We are confident we can
bring the situation to an end very soon."
Troops fanned across the
southern island of Jolo on Tuesday in search of US hostage Jeffrey Schilling, Malaysians
Kan Wei Chong, Joseph Ongkinoh and Mohamed Noor Sulaiman and Filipino hostage Roland
Ullah.
"I believe that we still
have a good chance to recover all the other hostages," said the Jolo task force
commander Major-General Narciso Abaya, but conceded that "lately we have lesser and
lesser leads" on the American's whereabouts.
However, "our assessment
is that they are still on Jolo island."
Military chief of staff General
Angelo Reyes said 18 days of army attacks had caused the rebels who held the preachers
"to tire, and caused them to be demoralized. It made it easier for them to accept the
fact that it is difficult to fight the government."
One of the freed men, Alvin
Flores, said the rebels were "terrified" of the aerial bombings.
The rescue freed up more men to
look for the other Abu Sayyaf factions holding the rest of the hostages.
More than 4,000 soldiers and
police pounced on Jolo on September 16 to end a five-month Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree
that humiliated Estrada and drove off tourists from Malaysia, where the first batch of 21
hostages were seized in April.
Defense Secretary Orlando
Mercado stressed Tuesday the crisis has "cost a lot" in terms of lost
investments in the Philippines as well as lost tourism dollars in Malaysia.
"Regardless of what it
will cost, we have to put an end to these activities" and allow Manila to regain its
"respect and dignity."
He said "we now have what
it takes" to complete the mission, despite earlier warnings the operation could last
until Christmas.
Troops would not cease
"until all the Abu Sayyaf are properly held accountable for their crimes."
Government forces said they
have killed 117 and captured 53 others from the 1,200-member Abu Sayyaf force, while
suffering six soldiers killed and 12 soldiers and police wounded.
Top rebel leader Radulan
Sahiron has been killed, but earlier reports that two other rebel leaders were also
wounded turned to be inaccurate, Abaya said.
An air force plane flew the
emaciated preachers to Manila early Tuesday for a meeting with Estrada.
Television evangelist Almeda,
in a stretcher and with an oxygen tube inserted in his nose, had a "very emotional
meeting" with Estrada, who "stroked his hair and held his hand,"
presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno said.
Almeda and his preachers bribed
their way into the Abu Sayyaf camp on July 1 to pray for the original hostages, including
10 westerners.
All but one of the original
batch of captives were later freed after huge ransoms were paid.
The rebels seized more hostages
later, including two French journalists who escaped on September 19.
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