Troops press search
ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) --
Government troops yesterday swept through remote jungle areas in southern Jolo island in
search of Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremists holding five Malaysian, American, and Filipino
hostages.
But 23 days after the start of
a crackdown ordered by President Joseph Estrada, Abu Sayyaf leaders are proving to be
elusive in a catand-mouse game with pursuing troops, military officials admitted.
"We can make this all over
before the end of December," armed forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes told reporters
during a visit to the military's southern headquarters here.
Southern command chief Lt. Gen.
Diomedo Villanueva said troops were scouring the towns of Talipao, Maimbung, and Patikul
yesterday, two days after the government bombed rebel positions to flush out Abu Sayyaf
remnants.
On Saturday, the military said
there had been sightings of American hostage Jeffrey Schilling and Malaysians Kan Wei
Chong, Joseph Ongkinoh, and Mohamed Noor Sulaiman and their captors but there was no news
of a fifth victim, Filipino Roland Ullah.
The military also said it had
widened its search to include islands near Jolo after one Abu Sayyaf member was arrested
last week in Tawi-Tawi island group in the southernmost tip of the country and about 30
minutes by boat from Malaysia.
Villanueva said the Abu Sayyaf
threat "has been contained," claiming that the group had suffered 129 deaths
since the blitz began on Sept. 16. He said the recovery of caches of weapons and equipment
left behind by the rebels was also "a good sign."
"They are low on food, no
medicine and they have been on the run," Villanueva said. "They have nowhere to
go except to the recesses of the jungle."
Some "prominent
leaders" of the Abu Sayyaf have sent surrender feelers through an unidentified local
official in Jolo, Villanueva said.
Back to Sipadan/Pandanan Hostages News
Back
to This Week's Borneo News |
