Abu Sayyaf rebels admit kidnapping foreign tourists

Abu Sayyaf rebels admit kidnapping foreign tourists

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters): A Philippine rebel group
claimed responsibility on Monday for another mass abduction of
tourists and foreigners in the Philippines, holding up the nation
once again to possible international embarrassment.

"We are admitting it, we are the ones who did it," Abu Sabaya,
a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf rebels, told local DXRV radio a
day after 20 people, including three Americans, were taken at
gunpoint from a resort island.

Sabaya, who claimed he personally led the raid on the Dos
Palmas resort, said the hostages had been divided into two groups
and were on Basilan and Jolo, two neighboring southern islands
where the guerrilla group has set up jungle camps.

If true, the kidnappers and the victims have traveled some 480
km (300 miles) southeast across the Sulu Sea on motor boats,
evading a dragnet set up by the navy and the air force.

The Abu Sayyaf gained notoriety last year for abducting some
40 people, including several Western tourists from a Malaysian
resort, keeping them on Jolo for months, negotiating with a
seemingly powerless government and receiving ransoms of up to $1
million for many of them.

Much of the ransom money was used to buy sophisticated weapons
and speed boats.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to destroy the Abu
Sayyaf and declared she would not let up until "you are wiped out
or you surrender".

Arroyo, speaking on national television, also announced a 100
million peso ($2 million) reward for information leading to the
capture of the leaders and followers of the group who took part
in the kidnappings.

"I will finish what you started. Force against force. Arms
against arms," the 55-year-old leader said. "This is what the
challenge you hurled against me calls for. I will oblige you."
The government also said no ransoms would be paid this time.

"We will meet force with force. There will be no ransom,"
presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters after
Arroyo met senior advisers to discuss the crisis.

The kidnappings drove down local financial markets on Monday.
The main stock index closed over one percent down while the peso
fell to a low of 50.96 to the dollar from Friday's 50.505 close
before recovering marginally.

Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas said the kidnappings could lead
to further deterioration in foreign investor sentiment, which has
been badly hit by months of political volatility, the
deteriorating law-and-order situation and the moribund economy.

Warning

The United States and Britain both warned their nationals not
to travel to the southern Philippines and to be cautious
elsewhere in the country, dealing a blow to any prospects of
revival in the struggling tourist industry.

The victims were kidnapped around dawn last Sunday from the
Dos Palmas island resort, some 600 km south of Manila.

Martin Burnham, a 41-year-old missionary and one of the three
Americans among the hostages, also spoke to the radio station.

"I am with my wife, we are in the custody of the Abu Sayyaf
under Khadafy Janjalani," Burnham said in a calm, level voice.
"We are safe, our needs are being met. We would like to appeal to
all for a reasonable and safe negotiation."

Janjalani heads one of the factions of the Abu Sayyaf. His
followers also held American Jeffrey Schilling for eight months
before the man was freed in April when a military patrol chanced
upon the rebels on Jolo and the guerrillas fled leaving the
captive behind.

Earlier, the rebels had threatened to execute Schilling, a
convert to Islam, and present his head to President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo on her birthday on April 5.

Sabaya made no ransom demands on Monday, but held out a veiled
threat.

"Let's not compare this with Jeffrey," he said. "Jeffrey was a
Muslim, that's why we had second thoughts about harming him. Now
we have three Americans, let's not embarrass each other."

Burnham, his wife Gracia and Guillermo Sobero are the three
American hostages. The Burnhams, from Wichita, Kansas, have been
based in the Philippines with the New Tribes Mission for 15
years. They were in Dos Palmas to celebrate their 18th wedding
anniversary.

Sobero, from Corona, California, was at the resort with a
Filipina girlfriend and was to celebrate his 40th birthday on
Tuesday. The other victims are 13 Filipino tourists, including an
eight-year-old boy, and four resort workers.