RP hostage rescue operation expected to take a month

RP hostage rescue operation expected to take a month

JOLO, Philippines (Agencies): Philippine troops have killed
105 Muslim guerrillas in a hostage rescue bid, but recovering the
captives who include an American and three Malaysians may take a
month, officials said on Monday.

President Joseph Estrada originally said the rescue would take
a week but on Monday, the 10th day of the assault, said
"unforeseen circumstances" like heavy rain and difficult terrain
had hampered the operation.

The latest to fall under government gunfire in southern Jolo
island Monday afternoon were two gunmen in a 100-strong unit
believed to be holding U.S. hostage Jeffrey Schilling, Defense
Secretary Orlando Mercado said.

Schilling, who was reportedly seen at the weekend, his limbs
bound and covered with sores, again appealed to the government
over local radio to suspend the military operation launched on
Sept. 16 and resume talks with the rebels.

Aside from the American, the Abu Sayyaf gunmen also hold three
Malaysians and 13 Filipinos.

Military officials said based on the bodies of guerrillas
recovered and intelligence reports received, some 105 Abu Sayyaf
members had been killed and 26 others arrested during the
operation so far.

Chief of staff Gen. Angelo Reyes said a rebel leader, Radulan
Sajiron, was badly wounded in a clash. Reyes put government
casualties at one soldier dead and six wounded.

Among civilians, he said there were two deaths and four
wounded. The operation's commander, Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya,
told journalists on Monday during the first officially-permitted
media visit to Jolo since the military operation began that "all
of the hostages are alive" and were on the island.

Some reports have said that Abu Sayyaf units have slipped
through a naval blockade around Jolo with some hostages. "This is
a very difficult operation," Abaya said. Searching for hostages
on the 897 square-kilometer (345 square-mile) jungle-clad island
is akin to looking for the "proverbial needle in the haystack."

Some 36,330 Jolo residents had been displaced by the military
strikes, military chief Reyes said. He admitted the military had
been "overly optimistic" of completing the operation aimed at
rescuing the hostages and destroying the Abu Sayyaf within a
week.

Difficult

"The problem is more difficult than we expected," Reyes said.
"We ask you to be patient." He later said the operation by 4,000
troops should take several more weeks or a month.

The hostage crisis began on April 23 with a cross-border
abduction of 21 people, mostly foreigners, from the Sipadan
resort in neighboring Malaysia.

Estrada ordered the assault when the Abu Sayyaf raided another
Malaysian resort after ransoming off the earlier hostages for
sums estimated by the military at millions of dollars.

Two French journalists among the hostages escaped last week in
the first positive result of the mission.

Abaya said the Abu Sayyaf core group "is still intact" because
they enjoy "mass-based support" and "they just keep on running,
they don't want to fight."

Military intelligence sources said rebel leader Galib Andang's
unit had been seen on Tumantangis mountain near Indanan in
western Jolo. But troops held back fearing for the safety of 12
Filipino hostages with him.

The military believes the group for a time had taken refuge in
an underground passage which leads to the crater of an extinct
volcano.

Malaysia said on Monday it would send another army battalion
to Sabah state, which borders the strife-torn southern
Philippines, and will more than double the number of navy vessels
patrolling the state's waters.

Malaysia has ordered troops to shoot on sight suspected armed,
foreign intruders in a flurry of security measures since Abu
Sayyaf rebels staged a second kidnapping raid on a Malaysian
island off Sabah this month.

Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said on Monday
reinforcements were being sent to help defend Sabah, on the
northern tip of Borneo island.

"Presently one battalion is already upgrading surveillance in
Sabah waters and the army is making arrangement to send another
in the very near future," Najib said.

The Malaysian news agency quoted an Indonesian diplomat on
Sabah as saying Indonesian navy forces were also stepping up
security to protect the Indonesian part of Borneo.