Troops clash with Abus

After a six-day air and sea search, the military finally caught up with Abu Sayyaf kidnappers yesterday in the island-province of Basilan, triggering a running gun battle that left at least two soldiers dead and 18 wounded.

Officials believed that the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, who claimed two of their 20 hostages had been wounded, were about six kilometers from the sea and moving southward into Basilan’s interior.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said government troops were trying to seal off escape routes of some 100 Abu Sayyaf gunmen.

"The mission is clear: to maintain contact so as to prevent them from escaping. We are not here to disengage... we want to engage," Adan stressed.

He did not give the number of casualties on the Abu Sayyaf side, but surmised it must be heavy.

He also gave no information about the condition of the hostages. However, Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya told a Zamboanga City radio station that two of the hostages were hit by gunfire.

Gasping for breath, Sabaya reiterated his warning that they would execute the hostages snatched early Sunday morning from the posh resort of Dos Palmas in Palawan if the military continued its pursuit operations.

Sabaya put one of the 17 Filipino hostages, Teresa Ganzon, on the phone. With voice breaking, Ganzon appealed to the authorities to call off the military assault, saying their lives were being put in mortal danger.

She said the three Americans were with her group, but could not confirm if some of the captives were wounded.

Adan said the Abu Sayyaf was using grenade launchers, but neither side was using heavy artillery.

He said the troops would not use artillery to avoid hurting the captives, but added that ground commanders have the liberty to decide what weapons to use to match those of the extremist rebels.

Adan said the rebels were in a nine-kilometer-wide valley between two mountains, in a very dense jungle terrain. He said it may take days to cordon off the area.

He also noted that Sabaya could not have made the phone call to the radio station if he were in the midst of the fighting.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that helicopter gunships pounded Abu Sayyaf positions in Mt. Sinangkapan, and quoted villagers as saying they heard howitzers fire 10 to 15 rounds earlier in the day, with sporadic intense firing of small weapons.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva immediately flew to Basilan from the Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga City to personally supervise the rescue and assault operations.

Naval blockades have been set up around Basilan to prevent the kidnappers from transferring to nearby islands.

"We will pursue these rebels. We will seal off this area. We will fix them so we can free the hostages," Villanueva was quoted as saying by the Agence France Presse.

He vowed to demolish the Abu Sayyaf once and for all.

Several civilians were reportedly wounded by a grenade that exploded well away from the fighting. One of the victims was identified as Abdullah Issah who suffered serious burns in the back and left arm, and was evacuated with the wounded soldiers.

About 500 families were reported displaced by the fighting.

A school in Lampinid town was immediately converted into a staging center for the wounded, who were ferried down from the fighting in jeeps, then into helicopters.

Sabaya said the fighting broke out when he allowed some of the hostages to take a bath in a nearby river. He said pursuing troops found them and opened fire.

Sabaya also said apart from the 20 hostages seized from Dos Palmas, they also captured 10 fishermen.

Adan said the fishermen must have been shanghaied to be used as slaves by the terrorists.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the government stood pat on its demand for the unconditional release of the hostages even as military operations will be pressed.

Col. Jose Mendoza, Armed Forces deputy chief for civil-military operations, told reporters in Zamboanga City that the troops overran a temporary Abu Sayyaf lair in a village in Tuburan town, but saw no signs of the hostages.

"Several bodies were discovered ... some were dragged away by their fleeing comrades," Mendoza said.

Fresh troops arrived in Basilan to reinforce three Army battalions composed of some 1,800 soldiers pressing the assault on the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the island.

Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar said the clashes occurred on the southwestern fringes of the provincial capital of Isabela, near a mountainous watershed called Sampinit.

On the threat to execute the hostages, Akbar said the kidnappers would not kill the richest among the captives.

"He (Sabaya) will execute those with the lowest rank in society," said Akbar, himself a former guerrilla of the Moro National Liberation Front which signed a peace accord with the government in 1996.

Libya supports all-out assault on Abu Sayyaf

The Libyan government backed the Arroyo administration’s all-out war policy against the Abu Sayyaf terrorists who have renewed their kidnapping binge.

Libyan Ambassador Salem Adam said the President’s decision is "very understandable" since the Abu Sayyaf’s acts should be condemned by both Muslims and Christians alike.

Adam said his country would not offer any help to resolve the hostage crisis because it is an internal problem.

Ambassador Raul Rabe, Manila’s special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, has quoted Libyan leader Muammar Gadhaffi as saying the Abu Sayyaf’s practice of mass kidnapping "has nothing to do with the cause of Islam."

Vice President and concurrent Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. said the government welcomes any assistance from other countries to speed up the rescue of the 20 hostages.

Guingona warned, however, that it would be illegal and unconstitutional to allow the United States to participate in the military operations against the Abu Sayyaf without any executive or legislative concurrence.

He pointed out that direct participation by US troops in rescuing the captives that included three Americans violates the no foreign intervention policy.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said the President has designated a military intermediary with the Abu Sayyaf to facilitate release of the hostages.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao refused, however to identify the special go-between whose mission would be to persuade the Abu Sayyaf to surrender or release the hostages.

Tiglao ruled out any talks about ransom payments for the release of the victims.

In another development, Muslim groups opposed a plan by the government to use vigilantes in running after the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers.

Macapanton Abbas Jr. , chairman of the Bangsamoro Council, described as "uncivilized" the government’s offer of a P100-million bounty for any information leading to the capture of the Abu Sayyaf leaders.

"The policy of using vigilantes is a practice resorted to by uncivilized and warlord-dominated regimes, but unthinkable for a democratic, civilized and Christian country," Abbas said in a statement. — With reports from Marichu Villnueva, Roel Pareño, Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude, Marvyn Sy