Philippine troops recover body of slain Indonesian captive

Philippine troops recover body of slain Indonesian captive

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Zamboanga City, Philippines

Philippine troops have recovered the body of a kidnapped Indonesian sailor executed by Abu Sayyaf rebels on a southern island, a military official said on Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino said soldiers dug up the remains in a shallow grave on Tuesday in the village of Panglayahan in Patikul town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometers south of Manila.

"We have recovered the remains of Indonesian captive Muntu Jacobos Winowatan," he said. "There were two other bodies in the grave, one was the remains of a Filipino hostage and the other of a rebel killed in a clash."

Tolentino said the bodies have been sent to the military's southern command headquarters for further examination.

He said the grave was discovered after another Indonesian hostage, Pieter Lerrich, who was rescued from the Abu Sayyaf last week, told the military its location in the hinterlands.

Lerrich was rescued two weeks after a third Indonesian hostage, Julkifli, escaped from the guerrillas.

Both of them told authorities that the rebels had killed Winowatan during captivity.

The three Indonesians were abducted from their ship on the high seas off Jolo on June 17, 2002 while on the way to the central province of Cebu to deliver coal. A fourth sailor escaped two days after the kidnapping.

The rebels are still holding captive four female Christian preachers abducted in August 2002 and a Chinese-Filipino businesswoman kidnapped last weekend.

The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but most violent Moro rebel group in the southern Philippines. The United States has included the group in its blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations for alleged links to the al-Qaeda.