U.S. govt impatient over RP hostage crisis
U.S. govt impatient over RP hostage crisis
MANILA (AFP): U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on the Philippine government to resolve a protracted hostage crisis involving two Americans and 19 Filipinos, an official said on Tuesday.
Powell raised the two-month-old crisis with Vice President Teofisto Guingona in a meeting last week on the sidelines of a regional conference in Vietnam, foreign office undersecretary Lauro Baja said.
Powell told Guingona that Washington "hopes the Philippine government will be able to resolve the hostage crisis as soon as possible," Baja said.
The U.S. official also appealed to the Muslim Abu Sayyaf kidnappers to free American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham of Kansas and the Filipino hostages, Baja said.
Guingona, who is also foreign minister, assured Powell that the military was continuing to track down the gunmen and doing its best to secure the captives, he said.
Before the meeting ended, Powell again reminded Guingona about the Burnham couple, Baja said.
The Burnhams, along with Californian Guillermo Sobero, were among 20 hostages seized by the Abu Sayyaf from a Philippine resort on May 27 and later brought to the southern island of Basilan.
The rebels abducted more hostages in Basilan but released several of the original captives allegedly in exchange for ransom payments. They have also killed four Filipinos and claim to have beheaded Sobero, whose body has not been found.
President Gloria Arroyo has said the military was receiving help from the U.S. government in the form of surveillance equipment.
Arroyo has also launched a massive crackdown against the Abu Sayyaf and their supporters, giving the military powers to arrest suspects in rebel-infested communities in Basilan, Zamboanga city and Jolo island.
The army said more than 100 suspects have been detained, with about 50 officially charged with kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms while the rest were being interrogated.
On Monday, an Abu Sayyaf guerrilla hurled a grenade into a Roman Catholic cathedral on Jolo island, where priests live under guard from a military outpost.
No one was hurt in the incident, which caused minor damage, but police said the attack was in retaliation for the military crackdown.
An unknown man later called a local radio station in the southern city of Zamboanga and threatened to attack Christian targets and churches if the arrests of Abu Sayyaf sympathizers did not cease.
In another development, an arrested Abu Sayyaf member escaped from the military in Jolo island on Saturday after his guards allowed him to go to the bathroom without an escort, military officials said.