Rebel says U.S. man injured, demands ransom

Rebel says U.S. man injured, demands ransom

MANILA (Reuters): The Abu Sayyaf rebels said on Wednesday one of three American hostages they were holding in the southern Philippines was injured by an army grenade, and demanded a military pullback as a condition for talks.

"He took many hits in the back...He is now in a stable condition, nothing to worry (about)," a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas said in a call to a local radio station, referring to American missionary Martin Burnham.

Spokesman Abu Sabaya said Burnham suffered shrapnel wounds caused by an explosion from a grenade fired by troops during one of several encounters over the past three days.

Military officials said they were checking the report. Burnham and his wife Gracia, both from Wichita, Kansas, were among 20 people kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf from an island resort on May 27. They have been working with local cultural minorities since 1986 as missionaries for the U.S.-based New Tribes Mission.

Also taken captive were Guillermo Sobero, a tourist from Corona, California, and 17 Filipinos.

The rebels brought the hostages to Basilan, a mountainous island 500 km (300 miles) southeast of the Dos Palmas resort, but have since been engaged in almost daily clashes with troops. Basilan is 900 km south of Manila.

Nine Filipino captives escaped over the weekend, but the rebels took 11 more hostages from a hospital they occupied. As the manhunt for the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding the hostages on Basilan island went into the 11th day, the military sacked its brigade commander there and replaced him with an officer "more familiar with the terrain," a spokesman said.

Beheaded

The bodies of two Filipino men, identified as staff at Dos Palmas, were found in the jungles of Basilan, believed by the military to have been beheaded by the rebels, who had threatened to kill hostages if the military assault was not called off.

Sabaya said the two Filipinos were killed in a scuffle with their guards and not executed. But three soldiers the rebels captured in a clash before they seized the hospital last weekend, were beheaded, he said.

"Three days ago, there was an encounter and we beheaded three soldiers," Sabaya said, although officials cautioned media against believing rebel claims, saying the Abu Sayyaf spokesman was a skilled propagandist.

Sabaya said the Abu Sayyaf had cut off talks with a government-designated negotiator because the continuing military operations showed Manila was not serious in talking.

"If you want negotiations, remove your military from here first," Sabaya added.

But the government has rejected the rebels' demands.

"We stand by our policy that these military operations cannot stop or even be temporarily suspended," said presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao.

A source close to the families of the Filipino hostages said the kidnappers had demanded ransom but many of the families, who are ethnic Chinese Filipinos, could not afford to pay.

"I don't know how much they are asking but there are really demands," the source told Reuters.

Search

In an unrelated drama, Philippine troops searched the slopes of Mount Pinatubo volcano north of Manila on Wednesday but found no trace of U.S. sailor lieutenant junior grade Scott Washburn, who went missing after a group of American and Filipino sailors were ambushed by suspected communist rebels.

"Washburn remains missing," the U.S. Embassy said.

"The hunch is that he'll be able to come back because we think he managed to escape and made an early evasion. Maybe he's just lost," police regional director Enrique Galang said.

U.S. and Philippine authorities have said they do not believe Washburn was taken hostage.

Washburn had been lagging behind four other U.S. Navymen and their Filipino navy escorts when the group was ambushed on Tuesday by eight armed men who identified themselves as members of the New People's Army. None of the four Americans was harmed.

The five U.S. sailors are part of American forces taking part in joint military exercises in the Philippines. The embassy said the sailors climbed the Pinatubo volcano during their free time.