Sayyaf eyes release of 2 more Pinoy hostages

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Abu Sayyaf leaders said yesterday they were considering freeing two more Filipino captives and renewed a demand for Malaysian negotiators to step in.

"We are still studying when, that’s only a proposal," group spokesman Abu Sabaya said when asked about reports from an intermediary that the group would soon free a teenaged Filipina and a male Filipino from hostages held for over a month.

Sabaya reiterated an earlier call for former Malaysia senator Sairin Karno, Malaysian businessman Yusof Hamdan and former Filipino rebel leader Farouk Hussein to go to their lair so that demands can be presented.

"If Malacañang refuses, what we can say is expect for the worst," he said.

As this developed, at least three more soldiers and an "undetermined number" of rebels were killed in two separate encounters in Tuburan town in Basilan, the military announced yesterday.

But Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) spokesman Col. Danilo Servando admitted yesterday at least four Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and one government soldier were killed in Sitio Marang-Marang, Barangay Languyan in Tuburan town.

The government casualty was identified as Sgt. Edgardo Hilom of the 18th Infantry Battalion which was conducting a routine patrol when they encountered 30 heavily armed MILF rebels led by Commander Yusop Gafur.

Southcom mistakenly announced the four MILF casualties were actually Abu Sayyaf bandits who are holding 23 hostages, including at least two Americans, split into two groups.

But the encounter with the Abu Sayyaf actually occurred in Barangay Upper Sinangkapan in Tuburan where the 55th Infantry Battalion were pursuing the bandits and their hostages.

Two government troopers and an "undetermined number" of bandits were killed in the encounter at Upper Sinangkapan but Southcom only identified the government casualties as former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels who were integrated into the AFP.

According to Servando, the encounter at Barangay Languyan confirmed reports that some units of the MILF, which signed a ceasefire with the government six days ago, were aiding Abu Sayyaf bandits.

But MILF regional commander Shariff Julabbi denied the MILF was helping the Abu Sayyaf and said he had not received any report about fighting in the area between the MILF and the military.

"That is not true. That is an attempt to undermine the sincerity of the MILF," Julabbi told Reuters.

Servando said the military believed the MILF combatants were not authorized by their leaders to fight and that the encounter was "unfortunate."

"They were in the way," said Servando, referring to the MILF casualties, whom the military suspects are either relatives or friends of the fleeing bandits.

The Abu Sayyaf have sought sanctuary in areas controlled by the MILF, making it difficult for soldiers to know who they are fighting, Servando said.

The military warned Muslim secessionist groups on the island to steer clear of military operations after suspected renegade members of the MNLF exchanged fire with elements of the 2nd Scout Ranger Company in Barangay Masola, outside the island-province’s capitol of Isabela City.

The MNLF has agreed to lay down their arms in a 1996 peace accord but some units, suspected to be relatives or friends of Abu Sayyaf bandits, are believed to be aiding the bandits. – Roel Pareño