Sayyaf's two execution victims found

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The headless bodies of two teachers who were among the 29 Filipinos abducted by the Abu Sayyaf extremist group were found at the bandits' camp after it was overran by government troops, a military commander said yesterday.

Army Scout Rangers in Basilan have found the bodies of Nelson Enriquez and Dante Uban, with hands tied behind their backs, in a shallow grave at Camp Abdurajak in Mt. Punoh Mohaje, said Basilan task force commander Brig. Gen. Glicero Sua.

He said the bodies were in a state of decomposition, suggesting that the two were executed before the soldiers attacked the rebel camp ,where the hostages, mostly schoolchildren, were kept.

The military rescued 15 hostages early this week, including five with gunshot or other wounds, but the fleeing Abu Sayyaf gunmen slaughtered four others including Fr. Rhoel Gallardo.

Gallardo, whose hands were bound and toe nails missing, was found sprawled in a pool of blood in the jungles where the rescue operation took place.

Meanwhile, soldiers attempted yesterday to head off Muslim rebels who broke through military lines and are believed to be escaping with 21 hostages, including 10 foreign tourists, military officials said.

The officials confirmed that at least some Abu Sayyaf rebels had been able to escape through a military cordon around the area in the Sulu capital of Jolo, where they had been holding their captives.

The Muslim extremists were believed to be taking the hostages, who were abducted April 23 from a resort island in neighboring Malaysia, into the hills of Patikul town, the officials said.

Sulu police provincial chief Superintendent Candido Casimiro said he received reports that the hostages were divided into groups and taken to separate locations.

He said the Malaysian hostages being held by bandit leader Radullan Sahiron were in Patikul.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his spokesman have left Basilan together with seven of their hostages for Zamboanga del Sur.

Janjalani, who masterminded the abduction of 27 people, mostly schoolchildren, managed to elude soldiers who clashed briefly on Friday night with the rebels, said Lt. Hassam Laquian.

"They were trying to get out so they tried to harass us," he said, adding there were no casualties.

A team of negotiators attempted to meet with the kidnappers late Friday, but was unable to reach them because of the rising tension in the area.

Representatives of the negotiators who visited the rebels on Thursday said the guerrillas were already outside the military cordon and had all 21 captives with them.

Contacts between the kidnappers and the negotiators were cut earlier this week after hundreds of troops encircled the area where the hostages had been held in a simple bamboo hut. A series of clashes erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday as the rebels attempted to escape.

The rebels have threatened to behead two foreign hostages if the military does not remove its troops from the area.

A rebel leader, Abu Escobar, said in a radio interview broadcast Friday that the group was discussing whether to go through with the threat.

"We will see. If the situation remains, the surprise may happen," he told dxRZ.

The government reiterated that the troops would stay.

"Our policy in this situation is containment in response to the request of foreign governments," Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said Friday. "We don't want to assault the area where the hostages ... are being held, but we cannot allow the kidnappers to get away either."

The Jolo hostages consist of nine Malaysians, three Germans, two French nationals, two South Africans, two Finns, one Lebanese and two Filipinos.

Several of their governments have urged restraint by the military and called for a peaceful solution.

The account by the representatives of the negotiators contradicts earlier reports that some of the hostages had either died or had escaped.

On the basis of Thursday's contact, a team sent by chief government negotiator Nur Misuari arrived in Jolo on Friday and has resumed contacts with the Muslim rebels in their new hideout.

Meanwhile, troops on the nearby island of Basilan continued to search for Abu Sayyaf rebels who are believed to still be holding several people from a separate group of 27 Filipino hostages seized nearly seven weeks ago, the military said.

Fifteen of the hostages were rescued by troops Wednesday but four, including a Roman Catholic priest, were killed, reportedly shot in the back by their captors.

Survivors said some of the Basilan hostages were regularly beaten and the priest was tortured.

In a related development, Basilan Bishop Romulo de la Cruz expressed concerns over the fate of the nine remaining hostages, who were among the 27 abducted by the Abu Sayyaf on March 20.

"We hope and pray they are still alive," he said.

The bishop also said the remains of Fr. Rhoel Gallardo will be brought to his hometown in Castillejos, Zambales today.

As hundreds of mourners viewed the bier of the slain priest at the Claret Formation Center in Zamboanga City, another priest called on the people not to think of revenge.

Fr. Angel Calvo, a Claretian priest like Gallardo, also said that a military action is not the solution to the problem in Mindanao.

Zamboanga City residents also lighted candles last night as Mayor Ma. Clara Lobregat asked the people to pray for peace and reconciliation. -- With wire reports