Trail of five remaining hostages in Philippines
runs cold
JOLO, Philippines, Oct 4 (AFP)
- The trail of Muslim extremists holding five hostages in the southern Philippines has
gone cold after the military rescued 12 others this week, officials said Wednesday.
Military intelligence sources
in Jolo island said they were still trying to determine the precise location of an
American, three Malaysians and a Filipino who remain in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.
The kidnappers lost custody of
12 Filipino Christian evangelists during a military assault on Monday.
Regional military chief
Lieutenant General Diomedio Villanueva said in Jolo that there had been no new clashes or
sightings of rebel units on the island on Wednesday.
Press undersecretary Mike
Toledo said in Manila that "late last night, they were still trying to locate the
whereabouts of the rest of the hostages."
He said "they could not
exactly determine where they are right now," but expressed confidence that there
would be new leads soon.
As an added precaution, the
military was conducting "parallel operations" in the nearby island of Basilan
where the kidnappers may have fled.
American hostage Jeffrey
Schilling was last seen several days ago in the Jolo town of Luuk with his captor, Abu
Sabaya and the search for him is still focused in that area, a government intelligence
source said.
However the three Malaysians,
seized on September 10, in a raid on Pandanan island of Malaysia's Sabah state, have not
been seen for days and it is believed that the Abu Sayyaf faction holding them is moving
constantly.
Troops in Jolo meanwhile,
focused their attention on a marshland near the towns of Talipao and Maimbung where two
senior leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, Mujib Susukan and Galib Andang, were believed to be
hiding after losing the evangelists.
The 12 were recovered in the
swamp after the gunmen decided that the hostages were impeding their retreat.
Meanwhile, provincial health
officer Doctor Nelsa Amin said in Jolo that medicines and relief goods for the 80,000
people displaced by the assault were running low.
She said she had ordered a
slowdown in the delivery of relief supplies to areas outside the capital town of Jolo to
stretch their resources.
The hostage crisis began five
months ago when Abu Sayyaf gunmen seized 21 foreign and local hostages from a Malaysian
resort and brought them to Jolo.
Pressure from European
governments prevented direct action against the kidnappers.
All but one of the original 21
hostages were later freed, reportedly after large ransom payments but the Abu Sayyaf
continued to seize more hostages.
The military assault began on
September 16, leading to the recovery of two French journalists and the preachers.
Toledo said the recovery of the
hostages "validates the decision of the president to launch military
operations."
"It is clear that it was
the right decision to make," he said.
He brushed aside concerns that
the cost of the massive assault would increase the country's ballooning budget deficit and
said the costs were "still within budget."
"Whatever may be the cost,
I think its going to be worth it," he said.
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