Sayyaf kills Pinoy hostages; 15 saved

Abu Sayyaf extremist rebels shot and killed several of their 27 Filipino hostages as the captives were being rescued by government troops in Basilan yesterday, a senior military official said.

"Some of the hostages were killed by the rebels as they fled the government troops during today's rescue," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"They could have been shot as the rebels withdrew," the official was quoted by the Agence France Presse news agency.

Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya, a regional Army commander, said 15 hostages have been rescued in the military operation in the village of Kumarang outside Isabela, the capital of Basilan.

Five of the 15 were wounded, he said.

Two wounded hostages were brought to the military's Southern Command (Southcom) Hospital in Zamboanga City.

School teacher Rosabert Ajon was barechested and wore soiled jogging pants as he was wheeled into the hospital, witnesses said. He had cuts and blisters on his feet and could hardly speak.

Geraldyn Melo, a teenager, was hysterical and could not be interviewed by journalists. Her wounds could not be immediately determined.

Melo wore a soiled shirt and muddied blouse.

The Abu Sayyaf has been holding the 27 hostages, 22 of them children, since March 20.

They claimed to have beheaded two other captives last month, forcing the military to launch an assault on their jungle base on Mt. Punoh Mahajed.

The base was captured over the weekend after more than a week of fierce fighting but the rebels were able to escape with their hostages, who included a Ramon Catholic priest.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado, citing sketchy field reports from government troops taking part in the rescue operations, said three of the children were found in a barangay in Lantawan town.

"We have the three children," he said. "We believe more will be recovered today as the hostages are the subject of a massive rescue operation."

The 13 children were among the 27 hostages from an initial group of 55 captives seized from two high schools after a failed Abu Sayyaf attack on a military detachment in Sumisip town in Basilan last March 20.

Lantawan, a coastal town, is a known bailiwick of the Abu Sayyaf. It is about 20 kilometers away from Mt. Punoh Mohadje where the Abu Sayyaf's main stronghold Camp Abdurajak was overrun by government forces during the weekend.

Earlier yesterday, a man identifying himself as a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf said they would release the captives to Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo if the military stopped attacks on their camp in Sulu, a Zamboanga City radio station reported.

"We will give all (hostages if) operations will be stopped because we need to continue the negotiations in Jolo," said Abu Asmad Salayudd, who claimed he speaks for the Abu Sayyaf group.

Speaking on dxRZ radio, Salayudd said the rebels would only hand over their captives to Arroyo if she comes to Basilan.

"We want her to come here and we will give all the hostages, these children," he said.

Arroyo, who is also social services and development secretary, said however that she would still have to get the go-signal from President Estrada to fly to Basilan to receive the hostages.

Arroyo said that in a five-minute conversation with another Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Sabaya, the fundamentalists asked for a ceasefire prior to the release of the hostages. The truce would enable the group to transfer all its hostages from Basilan to Jolo, Sulu, she added.

It was the first time that the Abu Sayyaf made contact with a top government official.

At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said the President authorized Arroyo to proceed to Basilan but only to receive the hostages and not to negotiate with their captors.

He said the task of negotiating still belonged to the Basilan crisis management committee.

Puno said Arroyo told the President that she would not travel to Basilan until military authorities in the province have determined when the turnover could take place.

In the radio interview in Zamboanga, Salayudd said Arroyo must coordinate with Davao City immigration chief Talib Abdulao, who claims to be his relative, in securing the release of the hostages.

The fundamentalist group is holding another group of 21 captives, mostly foreigners abducted from a Malaysian resort island off Sabah, in Sulu in a separate hostage drama.

The 27 Filipino hostages were being held at the Abu Sayyaf's Camp Abdurajak in Punoh Mohadje in Sumisip, Basilan until government forces overran the rebel base during the weekend.

Salayudd, who resurfaced four days after the military's siege of Camp Abdurajak, said they successfully evaded the government forces and confirmed they were now out of Basilan.

"We are now far from Basilan and engaged in 'tactical withdrawal' (from government troops)," Salayudd said as he appealed to Arroyo to initiate the move for the captives' release.

Meanwhile, the government demanded yesterday that the Abu Sayyaf submit a list of conditions for the release of its captives, saying the crisis should be resolved as soon as possible because of the health conditions of the hostages.

"We have not received a full list of demands from the kidnappers so we still have to wait for demands and try to assess them. A demand for a third country (to negotiate) is no demand. What is the end objective? That is just a procedural aspect. A demand would mean a substantive demand," Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon said.

He said the government would not accede to any demand without getting something in return.