RP troops kill two as rebels threaten to execute hostages

RP troops kill two as rebels threaten to execute hostages

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters): Philippine troops shot dead
two Muslim rebels on Sunday while a government emissary pursued
talks with the guerrillas to stop the threatened execution of
three U.S. hostages.

The extremist Abu Sayyaf group has set a Monday deadline for
executing the Americans -- held on southern Basilan island with
10 Filipinos -- if Manila does not yield to their demand for a
Malaysian to negotiate with them.

"There are talks right now," presidential adviser on national
security Roilo Golez said in a television interview when asked
what steps the government was taking to prevent the executions.

Asked if he believed the guerrillas would carry out their
threat, Golez said: "That is going to be their responsibility."

The two rebels killed were among nine guerrillas arrested by
soldiers on Basilan but were gunned down when they tried to fight
back, area army commander Col. Hermogenes Esperon said. Two other
guerrillas were wounded.

"They were being brought to the army outpost when they fought
back and tried to grab the firearms of our troops. Our soldiers
had no choice but to shoot them," Esperon told reporters.

An Abu Sayyaf spokesman set the 72-hour deadline in a call to
local RMN radio at about 4:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. in Jakarta) on
Thursday.

Local officials had said the ultimatum would expire on Sunday
but Golez told Reuters the deadline was Monday.

He said a government intermediary had talked with the Abu
Sayyaf and "they (the rebels) clarified it would be tomorrow".

"We have an open line of communications with them but when it
comes to conditions, we cannot accept any conditions."

He said a rebel demand for a military pullback from a
mountainous area in Basilan, 900 km (560 miles) south of Manila,
where the hostages are believed held was "out of the question".

The presidential palace said Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, in
a telephone talk with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on
Saturday, offered to help Manila resolve its second hostage
crisis in a year.

"Mr Qaddafi told President Macapagal Arroyo that the Libyan
government is available for whatever help the Philippines would
need, and ask for, in settling the kidnapping crisis," the palace
said. "The president expressed her appreciation for Libya's offer
of help. No specific form of assistance was discussed."

A Libyan diplomat played a key role in negotiations with the
Abu Sayyaf last year for the release of 21 mostly foreign
hostages seized from a nearby Malaysian tourist resort and
brought to Jolo island in the southern Philippines.

Except for a Filipino resort worker still in rebel hands, all
of those hostages have been freed, mostly after payment of large
ransoms. Some were rescued or escaped.

Arroyo has rejected the rebel demand for a foreign negotiator
and said army operations against the kidnappers will continue.

Arroyo reiterated her policy of not paying any ransom.

"We have learned a lesson from the past. Ransom was paid to
them and what happened? They continued kidnapping and to
modernize their armaments," Arroyo added, referring to last
year's hostage drama.

The Abu Sayyaf is one of two groups fighting for a Muslim
homeland in the south of the mainly Catholic country but appears
to pursue kidnap for ransom as its main line of business.

The Abu Sayyaf abducted 20 people from the Dos Palmas beach
resort on May 27 and brought them across 500 km (300 miles) of
sea to Basilan. Nine of the hostages have escaped or been
released. Two were found dead, apparently executed by the rebels.

The remaining nine Dos Palmas hostages are still in guerrilla
hands along with four other Filipinos abducted last weekend.