Abu to GMA on hostage: Time is running out

"Time is running out."

With this warning, Abu Sayyaf bandits vowed to behead their American captive Jeffrey Schilling if the government does not comply with their demands.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Asmad Salayuddi, alias Abu Sabaya, said they remain unfazed by President Arroyo’s order for an "all-out offensive" against the Sulu-based rebel group.

"Well, all I can say about Jeffrey Schilling and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (is) time is running out," Sabaya said yesterday in an interview with dxRZ Radyo Agong in Zamboanga City.

He said last Monday they will behead Schilling on April 5 as a "birthday gift" to Mrs. Arroyo if she rejects their demand to speak with Saudi Ambassador Al Ghambi within 72 hours.

But Mrs. Arroyo responded by saying she would "never, ever" negotiate with "money-crazy bandits" and ordered an offensive that would "take no prisoners except those who surrender."

An official of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Manila also told the Associated Press Ghambi will be away until Friday and probably wouldn’t talk with the bandit group even after returning.

"Once we promise, we make true our vow, just like we did to the two teachers," Sabaya said, referring to two male teachers they beheaded on April 19 last year as a "birthday gift" to then President Joseph Estrada.

Estrada had also rejected Abu Sayyaf demands but later conducted negotiations with them as a scandal in the stock market broke out.

The Abu Sayyaf later abducted tourists from the island resort of Sipadan in Malaysia and created an international spectacle that even involved Libya as a mediator.

The bandits later released most of their hostages after the payment of ransom amounting to more than $20 million but held Filipino dive instructor Roland Ullah, who was abducted together with the tourists.

Schilling, on the other hand, was detained after he visited the Abu Sayyaf camp with his wife Ivy Osani, supposedly a relative of Sabaya.

The bandit spokesman said they had already hidden Schilling to prevent the military from rescuing him and have prepared against any action the military may take against them.

"We’re waiting for the so-called ‘full military offensive.’ They have been saying that since the time of Erap (Estrada). I’m already deaf to that because it hasn’t stopped until now," he said.

Sabaya also scoffed at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for offering to help the government in having Schilling released.

"They have no balls. They are ingrates," Sabaya said of the MILF, referring to their abduction of 57 people, mostly teachers and schoolchildren, in Sumisip, Basilan in March last year to divert focus from a military offensive against the MILF.

But the MILF began yesterday a general cease-fire with government troops after the government re-started peace talks that were botched during the Estrada administration.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said they are ready to help the military in the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf if the government will seek their assistance.

"We are ready to help the government in the recovery of their American captive if they will seek our help," Kabalu said.

The statement enraged the Abu Sayyaf and Sabaya said the MILF should first address their problem of recovering Camp Abubakar instead of interfering in their business. – With reports from Aurea Calica