RP's Abu Sayyaf rebels behead four villagers
RP's Abu Sayyaf rebels behead four villagers
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters): Hooded gunmen from the Abu
Sayyaf militia beheaded four villagers on a southern Philippine
island after kidnapping more than 30 people, the army said on
Friday.
Two villagers managed to escape after the attack on Thursday
night on the island of Basilan, 900 km south of Manila, officers
said.
Nine villagers were set free and one of them brought back a
message from the gunmen that the others would be killed unless a
military offensive on the Abu Sayyaf was halted, army chief
Lieutenant General Jose Calimlim told reporters.
The Abu Sayyaf is holding at least 21 other hostages on
Basilan, including a U.S. missionary couple kidnapped in May.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the guerrillas could
not blackmail her government.
"Probably...because the heat is so strong, the Abu Sayyaf had
to do this retaliatory action or diversionary action," she told a
news conference.
"That's how war is. War is never one-sided so my reaction to
all this is that as a government we cannot be blackmailed."
The military also condemned the recent attack on civilians.
"This is a barbaric act, they killed innocents. This showed
how barbaric they are," Calimlim said.
The self-styled Abu Sayyaf rebels claim to be fighting for an
independent Islamic state in the south of the mainly Catholic
Philippines but their main activity is kidnap for ransom.
The Philippine military has launched intensive operations to
rescue the hostages, but so far to little avail.
Police said they recovered four beheaded corpses near the
raided village, near a known stronghold of the guerrillas, early
on Friday. The dead were identified by family members as among
the abducted villagers.
"I fought back and grabbed the rifle of the one who guarded
me," one of the two who escaped, Ian Rebollos, 17, told
reporters.
The other man who escaped was attacked by the bandits with
machetes and played dead. He was found by pursuing troops and was
taken to hospital for treatment, the army said.
Calimlim said about 40 Abu Sayyaf men participated in the raid
on the village near the town of Lamitan. He said hundreds of
troops were pursuing the rebels and the hostages but said his men
were at a disadvantage.
"No matter how many battalions you deploy, we cannot cordon
the whole place," Calimlim said. "The terrain is so vast, too
densely forested and mountainous. The terrain is to their
advantage."
Agreement
Meanwhile in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, two Muslim rebel groups that
have waged independent separatist wars in the mainly Roman
Catholic Philippines initialed a unity agreement on Friday after
decades of estrangement.
One group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), has
already struck a peace deal with the Philippine government while
the other, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is in talks
with Manila on a separate peace agreement.
"This will be the beginning of a new era for the Moro people,"
Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said after witnessing the
signing ceremony held 50 km (30 miles) south of the Malaysian
capital Kuala Lumpur.
The agreement was reached after two days of talks.
Predominantly Muslim Malaysia is brokering two sets of talks
involving Philippine Muslim rebels, one tackling MILF-MNLF unity
issues and the other involving the MILF and the Philippine
government.
MILF chief negotiator Murad Ebrahim said his side and the MNLF
would formally sign the unity agreement on Aug. 7, when
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visits Malaysia.
"I'm very optimistic about this. We started as one and maybe
we will be ending as one," Ebrahim said.
The MNLF and the MILF each claims to represent the five
million Muslim minority in the largely Catholic Philippines.
Muslim people in the Philippines are known as Moro people.