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.