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.