Abu Sayyaf spouts Bin Laden’s lines

A video clip of American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham was shown on ABS-CBN television yesterday, with Martin uttering lines similar to those of Osama bin Laden from a statement prepared by his Abu Sayyaf captors.

There was no sign of Filipino nurse Deborah Yap.

As Gracia sat impassively beside him, Martin outlined five reasons why the Abu Sayyaf bandits are "targeting" the United States and other Western nations.

Martin said the Abu Sayyaf gripes included Western indifference to the fate of "persecuted" Muslims around the world, and US "support to the Philippine government’s illegal and immoral annexation and occupation of Muslim lands" in Mindanao.

Also included in the list were US support for the "Israeli occupation of Palestine," sanctions against Iraq and Libya, "persecution" of Muslims in Kashmir, and the "desecration" of Saudi Arabia through the presence of Western troops and business interests.

At one point, Gracia rolled her eyes as Martin was reading the statement. She was not wearing the scarf she had on in a video footage taken last November.

Gracia also appeared to be in the same dark blue T-shirt shown in the November video but looked less haggard.

Appearing with the Burnhams on film were three hooded Abu Sayyaf bandits brandishing automatic rifles, with indistinct trees and vegetation as background. The Abu Sayyaf has been linked to Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.

ABS-CBN News Channel did not know when the footage was shot , saying that it was apparently sold by a "mercenary" journalist to a Western media outfit from which the network brought the clip.

However, the unidentified informants who supplied the video said the couple was filmed in January, but there was no independent proof as to when and where it was taken.

Judging from the Burnhams’ physical appearance, the video could have been filmed earlier than November last year. Martin, in captivity along with his wife for over nine months, wore the same T-shirt he was wearing in the November footage, but looked healthier and relaxed, with a shorter beard and without glasses.

In Basilan, the Burnhams and Yap were reportedly spotted with their Abu Sayyaf captors in a remote barangay in Maluso town, 30 kilometers west of the capital city of Isabela.

Maluso Mayor Sakib Salajin said his informants have confirmed that the Burnhams and Yap have been in town since last week.

"They are in the remote village just in the border of Sampinit Complex," he said.

But Salajin could not point to the exact spot where the three hostages were reported to have been spotted, saying the Abu Sayyaf keeps on moving to avoid contact with pursuing government troops.

Government troops said they last saw the three hostages on Christmas Eve last year in the jungles of Sampinit Complex in Basilan, where the Abu Sayyaf is believed to be holding out.

Following the sighting, Marines were sent to the scene for a seven-day search-and-rescue mission.

Earlier, Ustadz Shariff Julabbi, spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Western Mindanao, said an Abu Sayyaf bandit had asked him to arrange negotiations with the government.

"They just want to open negotiations, but I did not assure anything," he said.

Julabbi said the bandit who called him did not mention any condition for the release of the Burnhams and Yap but assured him that the missionary couple is in good health.

Salajin said the food supply of the Abu Sayyaf in Maluso has been cut off, and that at least eight of their family members and sympathizers have been arrested.

"This is very effective–what we are going to do is to stop them so they could not get any food," he said. "Our plan is to torture them mentally. They are thinking about their relatives who are under arrest. This is one way to stop them."

The wives of Abu Sayyaf leaders and known followers have fled Maluso and could no longer be located, he added.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan told reporters the 10 suspected Abu Sayyaf members and supporters, whom Salajin had picked up, have pending warrants for their arrest.

"It’s not true that they are being held hostage," he said "It was a legitimate arrest with warrants issued by the courts and this 10 people are now in jail."

Adan said the suspects were arrested for their involvement in the kidnapping of 17 workers and their children from the Golden Harvest Plantation in Lantawan town, Basilan last year.

"At least two (hostages) were beheaded, so the arrests made in Maluso were in connection with that incident in Lantawan last year," he said.

But Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Salajin is liable for kidnapping for snatching the wives and relatives of Abu Sayyaf leaders to swap them for the Burnhams and Yap.

"Maybe an advice to these people is necessary that this is not a good thing to do," he said. "You cannot take the law into your own hands. You cannot correct a mistake by making another mistake."

Basilan police chief Senior Superintendent Bensali Jaharani told reporters yesterday his men have arrested four women suspected of aiding Abu Sayyaf bandits.

"If we get their wives, their resolve will weaken because our planning is to mentally torture the bandits," he said. — Roel Pareño, Paolo Romero, Delon Porcalla