[Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf] Muslim rebels kill
two of six Jehovah's Witness hostages
By ZENY MASONG
The Associated Press
8/21/02 8:42 PM
PATIKUL, Philippines (AP) -- Muslim rebels linked to al-Qaida beheaded
at least two of the six Jehovah's Witnesses they kidnapped in the
southern Philippines, authorities said Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, commander of the army on the southern
island of Jolo, said authorities found the heads of the two male
hostages in an open air market in Jolo town.
The two men were abducted on Tuesday with four women as the group
sold Avon cosmetics and visited homes around the town of Patikul
in the south of the predominantly southern island of Jolo.
Tolentino said a note was attached to the remains referring to
"infidels" and spoke of a holy war, or "jihad."
The abductions demonstrated that the Abu Sayyaf rebels remain dangerous
despite a U.S.-backed military offensive aimed at wiping out the
group.
The incident was a blow to the Philippine government, which had
said just weeks ago it was shifting some resources away from the
war on Abu Sayyaf because the group had been decimated and was on
the run.
Officials had warned, however, the group could not be written off.
They noted at least eight top leaders were at large and said it
would be a daunting task to boost the economy of the Muslim-dominated
southern Philippines, where harsh poverty fuels anti-government
sentiment.
The kidnapping Tuesday on the troubled southern island of Jolo
was the first by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas since American soldiers arrived
in February on a six-month mission to train Filipino troops in counterterrorism
tactics. It was the first U.S. operation outside the Afghanistan
front in Washington's war on international terrorist groups.
Officials initially reported that eight Filipinos were abducted,
but two -- the only Muslims and local residents in the group --
returned home Wednesday, saying they spent the night with relatives
and were surprised by the attention. Police were investigating.
The police chief for Sulu province, Col. Ahiron Ajirim, said two
men with pistols stopped a vehicle carrying five women and three
men who were selling cosmetics.
Ajirim said the driver was left behind and identified one kidnapper
as Muin Maulod Sahiron, a nephew of local Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan
Sahiron. The one-armed rebel is regarded by many residents as a
Robin Hood who travels by horse and brandishes an Uzi submachine
gun.
Officials would not speculate why the hostages were targeted.
A police report said the six captives were Jehovah's Witnesses,
but said officers found no evidence they were trying to promote
their religion in the predominantly Muslim area.
Ajirim said police found boxes of Avon cosmetics in their vehicle.
Avon Products Inc., the world's largest direct seller of beauty
products, has thousands of sales agents in the Philippines, although
a spokesman at the company's New York headquarters, Victor Beaudet,
said the abductees were not employees or official Avon representatives.
About 1,200 American soldiers had been in the region training Filipinos
troops and providing logistical and intelligence support for the
Philippine army's offensive against Abu Sayyaf. The U.S. mission
ended officially three weeks ago, although a few Americans remained
on nearby Basilan island, to finish construction projects.
U.S. Navy Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command,
had said the military campaign left Abu Sayyaf "in disarray
and on the run, unable to find the money or the time to eat, rest
and resupply."
The rebels on Jolo, an island about 560 miles south of Manila,
are from a different Abu Sayyaf faction than the one on Basilan
and suffered less from the army's campaign.
The vice mayor of Patikul, Esmon Suhuri, said the Philippine troops
shelled nearby suspected Abu Sayyaf hide-outs Tuesday night in the
area's first shooting in months. Residents heard at least 10 ground-shaking
blasts. Two helicopter gunships flew over the area Wednesday looking
for signs of the guerrillas.
The Philippines has been plagued by kidnap-for-ransom gangs in
recent years, causing a drop in tourism and economic activity nationwide.
The stock market fell 2.1 percent after reports of the latest kidnapping,
which comes amid worries about the government's widening budget
deficit.
Last month, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered police to
wipe out 21 kidnap gangs within a year. The list did not include
Abu Sayyaf, which is primarily the military's responsibility.
Abu Sayyaf guerrillas often demand ransom, but also use poor hostages
as slave laborers and human shields. Some women captives have been
forced to marry guerrillas.
The previous Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree ended June 7 when U.S.-trained
soldiers tried to rescue the last of 102 captives: missionaries
Gracia and Martin Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Ediborah
Yap. Mrs. Burnham was freed, but her husband and Yap died in the
battle.
A Filipino man is still being held from another Abu Sayyaf mass
kidnapping two years ago from a tourist resort in the neighboring
nation of Malaysia.
Continuing story
Jehovah's Witness Hostages escape extremist captors
The last two female Jehovah's Witnesses escaped from the extremist
Abu Sayyaf group after nine months of jungle captivity in the southern
Philippines. (updated 05/17/2003)
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