RP military says U.S. hostage could be dead

RP military says U.S. hostage could be dead

LAMITAN, Philippines (Reuters): The Philippine military said on Monday that it believed Muslim gunmen had killed a 40-year-old American hostage after tying his hands behind his back and leading him away from his fellow captives.

But while a military spokesman said he had strong reason to believe that the self-styled Abu Sayyaf rebels had executed Guillermo Sobero, a tourist from Corona, California, his body had still not been found.

As he spoke, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made a flying visit to Basilan, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, and vowed there would be no let-up in an assault on the gunmen, who still hold about two dozen hostages on the southern island.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said it had no independent confirmation that Sobero was dead.

"We have no proof of Mr Sobero's fate. No remains have been identified as his. No independent source witnessed his claimed execution," the Embassy said in a statement. "That said, we remain gravely concerned about Mr Sobero's fate in view of the repeated claims by the Abu Sayyaf to have beheaded him."

Armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said the military had studied statements given by freed Filipino hostage Francis Ganzon. "We have strong reasons to believe the statements of Mr Ganzon that Mr Sobero is dead," Adan said.

"He was killed sometime on the night of June 11 after his hands were tied behind his back and he was separated from the rest of the hostages... They never saw him again.

"We have no independent confirmation because his body has not been found," the general told reporters in the capital Manila.

Adan said Sobero had been nursing a wound on his right foot sustained during fighting earlier this month between soldiers and the kidnappers on Basilan, 900 km south of Manila. The wound had not healed despite medication because the American was apparently a diabetic, he said.

The gunmen said on June 12 they had beheaded Sobero because of military operations against them.

Ganzon, a lawyer, walked free on Saturday along with two other Filipino hostages. Officials said Ganzon brought with him a letter from the Abu Sayyaf expressing its readiness to negotiate.

Guerrilla spokesman Abu Sabaya, in a call to local radio RMN on Monday, renewed rebel demands to negotiate with Malaysian intermediaries but said Philippine Justice Secretary Hernando Perez must also take part in the talks.

"Once Secretary Perez comes here we will release some hostages," Sabaya said.

Sobero was among 20 people, including two other Americans and 17 Filipinos, seized from a tourist resort near Palawan island on May 27 and taken to Basilan. The other Americans are missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, from Wichita, Kansas.

"The hostages are exhausted due to long mountain walks, most of the time at night," Adan said.

Through jungles

"Mr Ganzon said that they kept going up, the vegetation is very dense, sometimes they had to hold onto ropes and go down very steep ravines. The terrain is muddy."

Arroyo visited Basilan aboard a military helicopter. "I am under tremendous pressure to back down but I cannot do so at the risk of the higher national interest," Arroyo said.

She told reporters that suspending military operations would embolden the Abu Sayyaf. "Then they will strike again in some unexpected place. We cannot allow this to happen and place our people forever hostage to a band of extremists," she added.

Arroyo, who has adopted a no-ransom policy, denied knowledge of reported large ransom payments by families of freed hostages.

"While we cannot totally control private transactions, we discourage them and we will not support their efforts by facilitating them," she said.

Eleven of the original hostages escaped or have been freed or rescued. The bodies of two Filipino men have been found, apparently executed by the gunmen.

The gunmen took fresh hostages on Basilan and now have an estimated 25 captives, all Filipinos except for the Americans.

They profess to fight for Muslim self-rule in the mainly Roman Catholic country but their main pursuit is kidnap for ransom.

Last year, it abducted scores of people, including Western tourists from a resort in nearby Malaysia. Local officials say the group secured about $20 million in ransom from that.