Abu Sayyaf rebels seize eight from bus

Abu Sayyaf rebels seize eight from bus

PHILIPPINES: Guerrillas linked to the al-Qaeda network seized
eight door-to-door cosmetics sellers on a remote southern
Philippine island, but freed two of them hours later, officials
said on Wednesday.

The three men and five women, all Filipinos, were on board a
passenger mini-bus on Tuesday when Abu Sayyaf gunmen stopped the
vehicle, grabbed them and herded them into a forest, the military
said.

The abductions in the town of Patikul on Jolo island -- an Abu
Sayyaf lair -- occurred less than three weeks after U.S. special
forces ended a six-month counter-terrorism exercise on nearby
Basilan island to upgrade the skills of local troops in fighting
guerrillas.

Several hundred U.S. troops remain on Basilan, about 100 km
northeast of Jolo, conducting civic action and medical missions.
--Reuters