Few Leads on Philippine Hostages
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
JOLO, Philippines (AP) -
Military officials conceded Tuesday they have few leads on the location of five remaining
hostages held by Muslim rebels following the recovery a day earlier of 12 Christian
evangelists.
Two separate Abu Sayyaf rebel
factions are believed to be still holding an American, three Malaysians and a Filipino on
southern Jolo island.
Military officials said there
have been no recent sightings of any of the five, partly because civilians on the
predominantly Muslim island who support the rebels have provided little information to
army troops.
The 12 freed Filipino
evangelists were welcomed Tuesday by President Joseph Estrada in a ceremony at Manila's
presidential palace. Their ailing leader, Wilde Almeda, waved weakly from a stretcher as
dozens of supporters cheered.
``We are hopeful this will
signal the early recovery of the remaining hostages,'' Estrada said of the rescue, the
first major success of an 18-day military assault.
A wave of kidnappings by the
Abu Sayyaf which began in March has badly embarrassed Estrada's government and tarnished
the Philippines' reputation among tourists and investors.
Most of the scores of hostages
were released after the payment of more than $15 million in ransom by Libya and Malaysia,
negotiators say.
The evangelists from the Jesus
Miracle Crusade were abducted after they paid $3,000 and 35 bags of rice to visit a rebel
camp to pray for the release of an earlier group of hostages. Although they earlier denied
being hostages, Almeda whispered ``We can never repay you'' to military chief of staff
Gen. Angelo Reyes.
The group was rescued Monday
after one member escaped and informed the military of the location of the others,
officials said.
Their rescue leaves the largest
Abu Sayyaf faction, led by Ghalib ``Robot'' Andang, with no more hostages to use as human
shields and opened the way for a direct military assault on them. Helicopter gunships had
earlier avoided direct attacks to prevent injuries to the hostages.
The military believes American
hostage Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino Roland Ulla are being held by another faction led
by rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya near Luuk in eastern Jolo. However, there have been no
sightings of the group in several days.
The other three hostages are
held by another rebel faction.
Schilling, a Muslim convert
from Oakland, Calif., told the U.S. Embassy in a telephone call last Monday that he had
been taken by speedboat to another island and said his captors were demanding a $10
million ransom.
Ulla is the last remaining
hostage from a group of 21 tourists and workers abducted April 23 from a Malaysian diving
resort.
``We are conducting operations
on the group of Sabaya but lately we have lesser leads as to where the hostages are,''
operations commander Gen. Narciso Abaya said.
The abduction of the three
Malaysians from another resort on Sept. 10 came despite the rebels' pledge not to take new
hostages while negotiations were underway. It triggered Estrada's decision to launch a
massive military assault on Sept. 16.
Gepilano said 120 rebels are
believed to have been killed and 53 injured so far in the attack. Five soldiers have died
and 14 have been wounded, he said.
More than 88,000 civilians have
been forced from their homes to escape the fighting, the military says.
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