Six kidnappers surrender in RP, military reports<\/p>\n
JOLO, Philippines (AFP): Six members of a Muslim extremist
\ngroup holding five hostages in the southern Philippines have
\nsurrendered amid a relentless army assault, the military said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Three Abu Sayyaf members turned in their rifles in Luuk on the
\nsouthern island of Jolo on Saturday and notified authorities that
\nmore of their group wanted to surrender, Brig. Gen. Generoso
\nSenga told DZMM radio.<\/p>\n
Three other guerrillas followed suit that same night with more
\nexpressing a desire to do the same.<\/p>\n
\"Some of these (who want to surrender) are prominent
\npersonalities, but we would not like to discuss this information\"
\nat this time, Senga said.<\/p>\n
The government three weeks ago launched a massive military
\nassault to rescue 19 hostages still held by the Abu Sayyaf in
\nJolo from a five-month kidnapping spree.<\/p>\n
Twelve Filipino Christian preachers were rescued last week
\nwhile two French journalists managed to escape three days into
\nthe assault.<\/p>\n
Five hostages -- American Jeffrey Schilling, Filipino Roland
\nUllah, and Malaysians Kan Wei Chong, Joseph Ongkinoh and Mohamed
\nNoor Sulaiman -- remain in rebel hands.<\/p>\n
A military source in Jolo identified one of those who
\nsurrendered as Commander Abdul Baki, a trusted ally of Abu Sayyaf
\nsenior leader Galib Andang, popularly known as Commander Robot.<\/p>\n
Baki and his group were reportedly watching over 12 Filipino
\nChristian preachers when troops swooped on their lair and rescued
\nthe captives last week, the source said.<\/p>\n
Among those who reportedly want to surrender is Abu Sayyaf
\nleader Abu Sabaya, whose faction holds Schilling, reports said.<\/p>\n
Senga said \"our troops are a bit tired,\" 24 days into an
\noperation to destroy the self-proclaimed Muslim independence
\nfighters and rescue the remaining hostages.<\/p>\n
But he said \"these positive developments resulting from their
\nactions are giving them encouragement.\"<\/p>\n
The military says at least 129 gunmen of the 1,200-member Abu
\nSayyaf have been killed, while admitting to having lost eight
\nmen, including three civilian spies.<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said Manila was open to
\ntalks with the rebels to free the captives but stressed there
\nwould be no let up in military operations.<\/p>\n
Malaysian envoy to Manila Mohammad Arshad Hussein meanwhile
\nsaid Kuala Lumpur had received word their nationals had been
\nspotted and they were expecting positive developments in the next
\nfew days.<\/p>\n
But a statement by the Malaysian embassy released later said
\nKuala Lumpur \"is increasingly concerned for the safety of the
\nthree Malaysians\" as it expressed hope the operations \"would be
\nover as quickly as possible.\"<\/p>\n
The three Malaysians were snatched Sept. 10 by Abu Sayyaf
\ngunmen from the Malaysian resort of Pandanan, nearly five months
\nafter the same group snatched 21 Asian and Western hostages from
\nthe nearby resort of Sipadan.<\/p>\n
All but one of the Sipadan hostages, Ullah, have been freed
\nafter huge ransom payments.<\/p>\n
Officials said about 82,000 people have been displaced during
\nthe military operation -- more than a fifth of the population of
\nthe 897 square-kilometer Jolo island.<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the 5,000-member Jolo military task force,
\nMajor Alberto Gepilano, told AFP that some soldiers had told
\ntheir superiors they were \"very tired\" and wanted to go on
\nvacation.<\/p>\n
However, Philippine security forces have been told to brace
\nfor the possibility that the country's largest Muslim insurgent
\ngroup will step up attacks during a fact-finding mission by the
\nOrganization of Islamic Conference (OIC) next week.<\/p>\n
A team from the 56-member international Islamic body will
\nconduct a four-day probe from Oct. 16 into the implementation of
\na 1996 peace pact signed between Manila and a former Muslim rebel
\ngroup, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).<\/p>\n
The mission, to be headed by Indonesia, will also look into
\nthe living conditions of the large Muslim minority in the main
\nsouthern island of Mindanao.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/six-kidnappers-surrender-in-rp-military-reports-1447893297",
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