Sabaya's threat<\/p>\n
Philippine Daily Inquirer
\nAsia News Network
\nManila<\/p>\n
After all the terrible things it had done, it looked as if the
\nAbu Sayyaf had exhausted its capacity to shock people and make
\nthem recoil in revulsion, horror and anger. However, one call
\nfrom its spokesperson to a radio station in Zamboanga City last
\nWednesday showed once again how well the group practices the
\ncraft of terrorism.<\/p>\n
The government can "start looking for the dead bodies," Abu
\nSabaya announced after declaring that the Abu Sayyaf had closed
\nthe door to negotiations for the release of two American
\nmissionaries and a Filipino nurse the group has been holding
\nhostage for almost a year now. He said the Abu Sayyaf decided to
\nwithdraw its offer to negotiate after the government flatly
\nrejected it.<\/p>\n
The Abu Sayyaf had earlier announced that it was willing to
\ndiscuss a "last deal" with Presidential Adviser for Special
\nConcerns Norberto Gonzales, Governor Parouk Hussin of the
\nautonomous region in Muslim Mindanao and a former Malaysian
\nsenator. Malacaqang spurned the offer, saying it was sticking to
\nits policy of not negotiating with kidnappers particularly in
\nregard to ransom payments.<\/p>\n
Exhibiting the twisted logic typical of a criminal mind,
\nSabaya pointed out that the two-million-dollar ransom his group
\nwas demanding was nothing compared to the billions of pesos being
\nspent for the joint Philippine-U.S. military exercises being
\nconducted in Basilan.<\/p>\n
Anyone who looks at the Abu Sayyaf's record of cruelty and
\nsadism will have to take this new threat seriously. The group has
\nbeen known to carry out its most outrageous threats. For
\ninstance, in June last year it announced that it would give the
\nhead of another American hostage, Guillermo Sobero, as an
\nIndependence Day gift to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Weeks
\nlater, government troops found the severed head of Sobero.
\nSeveral Filipinos the group had taken hostage while trying to
\nevade pursuing troops have also been beheaded.<\/p>\n
Still the situation is not completely hopeless. Sabaya himself
\nhas shown why. When asked if the Abu Sayyaf was ready to execute
\nthe American couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, Sabaya conceded
\nthat "holding the hostages is more advantageous to us compared to
\nthe two million dollars" it was demanding as ransom.<\/p>\n
And how can keeping the hostages alive work to the Abu
\nSayyaf's advantage? For one thing, the self-styled Islamic
\nrevolutionary group believes the drawn-out hostage crisis is a
\ncontinuing demonstration not only of the ineptness of the
\nPhilippine military but also of America's powerlessness in
\nfighting Islamist terrorism. And to their own mind, this makes
\nthe Abu Sayyaf members bigger heroes not only at home but in the
\nentire Muslim world.<\/p>\n
The second reason is even more practical and compelling: They
\nhave to keep the hostages alive to stay alive themselves. They
\nhave used their hostages as "human shields" before to escape from
\ntight situations, and they plan to continue to do so. Sabaya
\nhinted as much when he said that if they perceive the odds to
\nhave turned badly against them, then they may have to "say
\ngoodbye" to the two Americans.<\/p>\n
If the choice is between money and their lives, it seems that
\neven the bandits masquerading as freedom fighters will decide
\nlike their hostages do.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sabayas-threat-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}