MILF vows not to assist rival Abu Sayyaf rebels

MILF vows not to assist rival Abu Sayyaf rebels

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines' largest Muslim separatist guerrilla group pledged Monday to stay out of the way as a large military task force hunted down rival Islamic rebels holding 19 hostages.

"We condemn their activities," Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu said of the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers. "They are simply lawless elements," he said over radio station DZMM.

The armed forces launched a massive operation in the Abu Sayyaf's southern stronghold of Jolo island on Saturday in a bid to rescue the American, French, Malaysian and Filipino hostages.

Kabalu said in another interview over radio station DYSS in the central city of Cebu that the MILF also had a presence on Jolo. He said these units "would not lend a hand to the Abu Sayyaf."

"They are giving Islam a bad name," he added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine military said on Monday it is relentlessly pursuing Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in the country's south but seemed no closer to finding the local and foreign hostages on the third day of a major assault.

"We are pursuing operations relentlessly and we're strictly adhering to instructions of the president as far as the conduct of operations is concerned," said military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Generoso Senga.

President Joseph Estrada, declaring that "enough is enough", ordered the air and ground assault on Jolo island last Saturday after months of frustration and humiliation at the hands of Muslim rebel kidnappers.

He has ordered troops to "destroy" them within a week and rescue the hostages. But Senga declined to comment on the progress, citing operational reasons.

"Operations are still ongoing, operational details can't be disclosed for obvious reasons," he said. "There are still no indications that the hostages have been harmed."

Military sources said two more Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed in a clash on Monday, bringing the total to eight. Twenty had been captured while four soldiers and three policemen had been wounded.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said earlier that four civilians including a child aged 11 had been killed. There was no information on how they died.

"The ground assault is still ongoing. The assessment by the military is that it won't take a week," Mercado said.

A retired military commander in the south, Delfin Castro, warned that Estrada's order for results within a week on the jungle-clad island of 897 square kilometers (345 square miles) was "very optimistic." Three months or more was realistic, Castro said.

The strike rode the crest of a wave of anger at a group which armed forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes said "has caused so much problems and embarrassment to the whole nation."

Spokesman Senga, giving a briefing after Reyes visited Jolo on Monday, said the Abu Sayyaf split into groups and dispersed at the start of the attack by 4,000 troops, planes and helicopters.

Senga stressed that life in Jolo town and some other areas was "very peaceful" but was vague about where fighting was actually taking place.

He said he had no reports that the kidnappers and their captives might be holed up in hilltop tunnels said to have been excavated by the Japanese in World War II.

A senior army official earlier told AFP at least 70 Abu Sayyaf gunmen evaded a naval blockade and escaped to nearby Basilan island.

Other senior officials say they believe the gunmen are still on Jolo with their captives -- an American, two Frenchmen, three Malaysians and several Filipinos.

Cargo transport to the island will be allowed to resume Tuesday, Senga said, and public phones -- switched off as part of a news blackout -- would be reconnected.

Abdusakar Tan, governor of Sulu province which includes Jolo island, disputed a newspaper report of 600 casualties in the fierce air bombardment or subsequently.

"We only know of four civilians confined in the hospital," he said, making no mention of any civilian deaths.

A presidential palace statement said the Health Department had prepared emergency teams in the nearby provinces of Cotabato and Zamboanga to take care of civilians and an airlift would be arranged if necessary.

Tan said up to 1,000 families or roughly 4,000 to 5,000 people had fled their homes.

Estrada has said the safety of the hostages is "paramount" but France still strongly objects to the attack.