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.