RP says hostages alive and well, rebels on the run

RP says hostages alive and well, rebels on the run

JOLO, Philippines (Agencies): The Abu Sayyaf rebels were fleeing under military assault on a southern island on Sunday and all their 19 hostages were alive and well, the Philippine government said.

Six Abu Sayyaf rebels had been killed and 20 suspected guerrillas captured on the island, Jolo, armed forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said. Four government troops had been wounded, three on Saturday, one on Sunday.

"All the hostages, based on reports, are alive," he told reporters in southern Zamboanga City after briefing President Joseph Estrada and members of his cabinet. "There have been no reports from the field to indicate that any have been casualties."

Thirteen Filipinos, three Malaysians, two French television journalists and an American are being held on Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila in a crisis that has embarrassed the government for almost five months.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry said it had received no information about the well-being of the two French hostages. The Philippines has applauded Estrada's decision to order the attack but analysts say any surge in his waning popularity could be short lived no matter what the outcome.

In Kuala Lumpur, families of the three Malaysian hostages have appealed to the Philippines to halt its military assault for their rescue.

N. Pakkialaksmi, the wife of resort manager Mohamad Noh Sulaiman, and Nancy Nair, the wife of divemaster Joseph Jongkinoh, said they feared their husbands would be caught in the crossfire or hurt by Abu Sayyaf rebels.

"We are demanding that the Philippine army withdraw its aggressive actions and allow the negotiated release of the hostages," they said in a joint statement published in The Sunday Star.

Pakkialaksmi and Nair said they would hold President Estrada personally responsible for any injuries their husbands might suffer as a result of the military action.

Mohamad Noh and Jongkinoh, along with building contractor Kan Wei Chong, were taken by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the Pandanan island off Sabah on Sept. 10 in the second such kidnapping in less than five months.

Markets

Depressed financial markets may perk up briefly when they reopen on Monday because the government has ended months of vacillation on how to deal with the rebels, they said.

"We cannot discount a knee-jerk reaction in favor, but there are a lot of lingering concerns...this is not the only problem the government has," Astro del Castillo, head of research for A&A Securities, said of the assault.

Reyes said there had been six "engagements" with the rebels in which the six Abu Sayyaf rebels had been killed and 20 suspected rebels captured. He said rebel factions holding the hostages were in "escape mode".

Fighting could still be heard on Sunday night in Jolo and the military upgraded security in the capital Manila.

"We are banking on you, General Abaya," Estrada was heard telling Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya, in charge of the Jolo operation, by phone after he was briefed on the assault.

"...Let's kill all these Abu Sayyaf, they have given us only embarrassment."

But despite hopes for a quick and surgical strike, Estrada said the military operations could last for up to a week. Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado had earlier dismissed local reports that some of the hostages, who include six foreigners, may have been executed or shot by the Abu Sayyaf.

"Why would you kill your insurance?" he told Reuters. "If you kill them (hostages), you are gone. The reason you are safe is because of the hostages."

Heavy mortar bombing of rebel positions resumed at dawn after tapering off overnight and continued through the day, Jolo residents said. Most of the fighting was in the hills where the rebels hide out, about 20 km from the main town.

"We are hitting only selected targets," a military source said. "You don't hit the main camp, because you might hit the hostages."

Officials in Zamboanga said on Saturday that rebel chieftain Galib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, had asked the government to stop the bombardment and resume negotiations.