Philippine military plan to break into lairs of
Muslim kidnappers
JOLO, Philippines, Oct 10 (AFP)
- The Philippine military said Tuesday it hoped to penetrate the lairs of Abu Sayyaf
Muslim extremists holding five hostages, with intelligence supplied by gunmen who have
surrendered.
Military spokesman Brigadier
General Generoso Senga said five Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who surrendered at the weekend
revealed the locations of certain hideouts and secret passageways of the kidnapping group.
"We gathered a lot of
information but we cannot disclose them," he said.
Based also on "good
intelligence leads," the military would be able to gradually constrict the hiding
places of the Abu Sayaff, Senga said on the fourth week of a military assault on southern
Jolo island to rescue one American, one Filipino and three Malaysian hostages.
Since the operation was
launched on September 16, 14 hostages -- two French journalists and 12 local Christian
preachers -- had been freed.
Senga said on DZMM radio that
just five Abu Sayyaf guerrillas surrendered on Saturday, not six as he had claimed on
Monday, with all of them from a faction led by strongman Galib Andang, also known as
Commander Robot.
"Based on the
interrogation they confirmed that they are having difficulties," Senga said.
"They are tired, they have low morale and most of them just want to keel up and
forget everything.
"They confessed that Robot
is suffering from fatigue. They told us places where they hid and where the others
are," he said.
Senga indicated that more Abu
Sayyaf guerrillas would give up this week.
But he did not give details
"so as not to jeopardize" the government rescue.
"Our policy remains. Even
if there are negotiations, operations will go on," he added.
In a related development, two
Malaysian businessmen had reportedly arrived in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga
to convince a Chinese trader-friend of President Joseph Estrada to help negotiate with the
gunmen for the freedom of the Malaysian hostages.
The Malaysian officials were
quoted by a local daily as asking the Philippine government to give the greenlight to
businessman Lee Peng Wee to hold the talks.
Lee was instrumental in
negotiating the freedom of several other Malaysian hostages earlier in the crisis.
But Malaysian ambassador Arshad
Hussain said: "As far as I know, the government has not mandated any Malaysians to
initiate any negotiations or get the assistance of anyone in the Philippines.
"At best, they are acting
on their personal capacities and have nothing to do with the Malaysian government,"
he said.
Jolo residents said field guns
opened up for an hour in early evening Monday in the direction of Talipao and Patikul
towns, known Abu Sayyaf strongholds. However there were no casualty reports available.
Relief work for more than
80,000 civilians displaced by the fighting continued Tuesday. Medical teams examined
residents for "psychosomatic disorders" in Patikul, Maimbung and Indanan towns
on Monday.
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