No contact yet with Abus on Jehovah’s Witnesses

Thousands of troops have yet to find the Abu Sayyaf-linked band of kidnappers holding four women hostage on the third day of a rescue operation in an area near Patikul town in Sulu, the military said yesterday.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Eduardo Purificacion said troops have ringed the area where they believe the bandits, led by a nephew of an Abu Sayyaf leader, were holding the four Jehovah’s Witnesses Christian evangelists.

"There were near-contacts but no contacts as of now," Purificacion said. "I think there was a combined team that reached the area of the suspected hideout but only foodstuffs and items were found there."

He said unconfirmed intelligence reports indicated that the kidnappers were constantly on the move and that the hostages were still alive.

President Arroyo had earlier extended the term of Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Roy Cimatu up to Sept. 10 to enable him to resolve the latest hostage crisis.

Cimatu, who was scheduled to retire tomorrow, was the commander of military forces in the south before he became chief of staff.

However, Purificacion said it was impossible to tell when the hostage crisis would be resolved.

"The military is doing its best to finish the Abu Sayyaf in due time," Purificacion added. "I cannot tell because it also depends on the climactic conditions."

The hostages were seized on Aug. 20. Two Muslim guides were later freed and two other hostages, both males, were beheaded by the abductors.

The heads were put in ice boxes – with notes saying they were executed for being "infidels" to the Islamic faith – and left in a Patikul public market.

On Wednesday, the rescue operation was launched after negotiations for the hostages’ release failed.

Earlier, the military rejected a demand by the bandit gang, led by Muin Sahiron, a brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron, for a troop pullout prior to the start of negotiations.

The latest hostage crisis was a reminder that the Abu Sayyaf and their offshoot groups still remain a threat despite joint US-Philippine counter-terrorism operations that ended last month.

Meanwhile, troops clashed with Abu Sayyaf bandits in two separate incidents on the island of Basilan, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold.

An Abu Sayyaf commander was wounded and a henchman was killed in a gunbattle in the town of Tuburan.

According to reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo, the military headquarters in Quezon City, an army patrol found a group of seven Abu Sayyaf gunmen in barangay Canas.

The bandits retreated after a 30-minute gunbattle, only to encounter another military unit blocking their escape in another part of town.

An Abu Sayyaf leader, identified as Tots Murabal, was reported wounded and a henchman, identified as Hadji Murabal Isnijal, was killed.

In another incident, another army unit, accompanied by local militiamen, briefly shot it out with a group of ten Abu Sayyaf bandits led by one Commander Mingkong in the town of Sumisip.

No casualties on both sides were reported.