Indonesian sailor escapes from Philippine rebels

Indonesian sailor escapes from Philippine rebels

Agencies Zamboanga, Philippines

An Indonesian sailor fled Moro rebels in the southern Philippines on Friday after being held hostage for nearly 10 months, the military said.

Peter Lerrich, one of four Indonesians seized by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas from a tugboat in June 2002, was the third to escape. One of the sailors fled soon after the kidnapping and another, Julkipli, dashed from his captors in late March.

Julkipli told the military the fourth sailor, Munto Jacobo Winowatan, had been dead since Feb. 2 after a firefight between troops and the rebels.

Lerrich said Winowatan was murdered by the Abu Sayyaf, Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino told reporters.

"His allegation was that their captain was assassinated by the Abu Sayyaf after they noticed that the captain was very ill because of a gunshot wound he sustained," Tolentino said. "He wants to get back to the area to retrieve the remains."

Looking thin but otherwise unharmed after a change of clothes, Lerrich broke down as he recalled Winowatan.

"I don't want to go home without the body of Munto Jacobus Winowatan," Lerrich said of his friend.

Tolentino said that Lerrich, 37, was rescued after a military raid on a rebel hide-out in the village of Maligay, part of Jolo's Patikul town. But in a brief encounter with reporters, Lerrich gave a different account of his freedom, saying he escaped on Wednesday night and kept climbing the jungle hills until he reached Maligay, where a local official took him to the military.

Abu Sayyaf, the most violent of four rebel groups fighting for an Islamic homeland in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country, is blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Lerrich was in good condition, although tired and haggard, after being found in Maligay village on the southern island of Jolo, about 960 km south of Manila.

"The villagers said the victim could have possibly escaped because of continuous military pressure. He was seen running. He is now in our safe hands," Tolentino said.

Lerrich was due to be flown to the army's southern command in Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao and then on to Manila.

There was no word on the fate of four Filipino women, all Christian evangelists, who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf.

The Indonesian's escape came two days after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said planned exercises with U.S. troops will be held in the Sulu chain of islands that includes Jolo.

The latest series of training for Philippine units, dubbed Balikatan or "shoulder to shoulder", was to go ahead earlier this year but was delayed by controversy over whether U.S. soldiers would fight the rebels.

The Philippine constitution forbids foreign troops from going into combat.

Last year, U.S. and Philippine soldiers trained together on nearby Basilan island, another Abu Sayyaf stronghold. The U.S. forces were allowed to use their weapons only in self defense.