15 kidnappers surrender in Philippines hostage
island
JOLO, Philippines, Oct 10 (AFP)
- Fifteen gunmen of a Muslim extremist group currently holding five hostages surrendered
Tuesday as the Philippine military stepped up an assault in southern Jolo island to rescue
the captives.
The Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels
surrendered unconditionally in a village near Talipao town, handing over 15 rifles,
Colonel Romeo Tolentino, a senior official of the rescue effort, told AFP.
The gunmen told the army they
were seaweed farmers who had been enticed to join the Abu Sayyaf by promises of high
salaries.
Abu Sayyaf leaders are believed
to have raised millions of dollars in ransoms from a five-month kidnapping spree in
Malaysia and Jolo that involved western tourists, journalists, and local residents.
Five guerrillas surrendered on
Saturday and revealed to the military locations of certain hideouts and secret passageways
of the kidnapping group.
"We gathered a lot of
information but we cannot disclose them," military spokesman Brigadier General
Generoso Senga said Tuesday.
Based also on "good
intelligence leads," the military would be able to gradually limit the hiding places
of the Abu Sayyaf, Senga said on the fourth week of a military assault to rescue one
American, one Filipino and three Malaysian hostages still being held captive by the
rebels.
Since the operation was
launched on September 16, 14 hostages -- two French journalists and 12 local Christian
preachers -- have been freed.
The 15 gunmen who gave up on
Tuesday appeared exhausted, wore dirty clothes, and looked starved for sleep. Many of them
were barefoot while others wore muddied shoes.
One of the men, 50-year-old
Sabduran Hamsi, told AFP he left behind a family including six children, who he has not
seen since the army launched the Jolo rescue on September 16.
Meanwhile, Maru Hadjan, 47,
said he was enticed by Abu Sayyaf leader Mujib Susukan to join the guerrillas, but added
they were promised higher salaries than what they earned harvesting seaweed, but were
short-changed.
The 15 said they were separated
from Susukan's unit during its retreat from a military assault.
In a related development, two
Malaysian businessmen 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 green light 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.
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