Sayyaf vows to continue fight

Abu Sayyaf terrorists vowed yesterday to continue their struggle for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao and resist what they called "foreign invasion."

Abu Sulaiman, who introduced himself as spokesman for the Muslim extremist group, said they will never run out of volunteer fighters who will ensure their ultimate victory.

"Let’s go back to the cycle. You continue this troubled standard of justice and freedom and we will, God willing, continue this noble struggle," Sulaiman said in a taped message aired by a radio station in Zamboanga City.

Sulaiman said Filipino Muslims have for centuries fought numerous invaders and "they were not fully successful in their version of the crusade."

He was apparently referring to US forces on Basilan island and Zamboanga City who will train Filipino soldiers in counterterrorism.

Sulaiman branded as "the most repeated lie" the pledge by the Arroyo administration and the military to demolish his group.

The military dismissed Sulaiman’s statement, saying it was the "last will of a dying man."

"It appears that the man’s voice who was about to die was actually reading a well-prepared statement," said Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, chief of the military’s civil relations group for Mindanao.

The Abu Sayyaf has been on the run from a massive military operation meant to rescue an American couple and a Filipino nurse held hostage by the extremist group in the jungles of Basilan.

Authorities said the Americans, Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kansas have been in dire condition after months of captivity.

They also said Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya had fallen ill amid the government’s relentless campaign.

Meanwhile, Army Rangers involved in the operations clashed yesterday afternoon with Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the hinterland of Tuburan town, killing two of the bandits.

Army Capt. Noel Detoyato, acting spokesman for the military’s Southern Command based in Zamboanga City, said elements of the First Scout Ranger Battalion were tracking down the bandits when the encounter took lace at about 2 p.m. in Mt. Matangal.

Two of the soldiers were reportedly wounded in the firefight.