Troops, Sayyaf kidnappers clash

MANILA, Philippines - Government forces yesterday clashed with the kidnappers of three teachers and a 9-year-old boy as well as those of the three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The separate encounters in Akbar, Basilan and Indanan, Sulu resulted in the deaths of two kidnappers and the wounding of several Marines, officials said.

Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman, said troops from the First Marine Brigade clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in the hinterlands of Akbar town in Basilan at around 2 a.m. yesterday.

Two suspected kidnappers, believed to be holding the teachers and the boy, were killed.

However, Arevalo said the soldiers were not able to find the kidnap victims.

“Actually, this is not yet a part of rescue operations, but part of our efforts to put pressure on the group who are holding the kidnap victims. So we are trying to keep them running with the hope that eventually, they would release their hostages,” Arevalo said.

There were no reported casualties on the government side in the said encounter.

Last Saturday, midwife Eleazar Gumera, the health worker who was abducted in Lamitan, Basilan escaped from his captors when he was allowed to attend to a personal necessity.

On Friday, Marines recovered Amid Sali, one of the two money-lending company employees who were abducted by suspected MILF rebels in Sumisip town in Basilan last Tuesday.

Sali, an employee of Kasanyangan Foundation Inc., who was abducted together with colleague Leah Laping, reportedly found a chance to escape because of the heightened military operation in the area.

Laping is still in the hands of the captors.

A few days ago, Filipino-Chinese businessman Diongin Que, who was abducted while on his way home from Leng’s Restaurant which he owns, in Kakuyagan Village in Jolo, was also freed by his abductors.

5 Marines wounded

Five Marines tailing the Abu Sayyaf abductors of three Red Cross workers were wounded in an encounter yesterday afternoon in Paligue, Indanan, Sulu.

According to Armed Forces Civil Relations Service (AFP-CRS) chief Brig. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, fighting erupted at around 3:30 p.m. when the Abu Sayyaf members fired at Marines closing in on them.

“We could not say that it’s the final option because it was they (Abu Sayyaf) that started it all. They fired at our men, forcing our troops to return fire,” Pangilinan said.

AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano also refused to describe the fighting as the military’s final action.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Information Office (AFP-PIO) chief, said the terrorists appeared to be trying to breach the military cordon to remove limits to their movements.

Torres said government troops who are under orders to refrain from taking any direct military action against the kidnappers so as not to jeopardize the safety of the hostages have confined themselves for the past several weeks to just tailing and monitoring the movements of the suspects and their hostages.

Torres said Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the anti-terror Task Force Comet, is handling the Sulu hostage crisis.

There was no report yet on the whereabouts of kidnapped Red Cross workers Andreas Notter of Switzerland, Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Mary Jean Lacaba of the Philippines.

“Military operations have always been an option to take, and, having exhausted all other possible means for a peaceful release of the victims, we are left with no choice but to use military force to rescue the victims. Their safety remains the utmost consideration in every course of action that the military is taking,” Torres said.

Willing to talk with kidnappers

Philippine National Red Cross chairman Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday volunteered to talk to the kidnappers of the three Red Cross workers who were abducted in Sulu last month.

Gordon said he is willing to listen to the problems of the Abu Sayyaf and bring these matters to the attention of the government but stressed that he would not be there as a negotiator.

“Release the hostages and I’ll talk to you. I’ll talk to you as a senator and as chairman of the PNRC,” Gordon said at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila media forum.

Gordon also maintained that there was no ransom demand in exchange for the freedom of the three ICRC workers.

But Gordon said he wants the dialogue to be done in a “neutral place.”

The MILF said over the weekend that a ransom of between $5 million and $10 million has been demanded for the release of the three captives.

Abu Sayyaf members led by Albader Parad abducted the three workers in Sulu last Jan. 15.

President Arroyo has ordered the military and police to crack down on the abductors, but authorities have been hesitant to use force because of concerns for the hostages’ safety.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, who heads a task force dealing with the kidnapped Red Cross workers, said he has not authorized the military to mount a rescue operation because other steps were being undertaken to persuade the Abu Sayyaf to release their captives unconditionally.

Troops, police and about 600 mostly armed civilian volunteers have formed a loose cordon around a jungle area where the Red Cross workers are believed being held, Jolo provincial police chief Julasirim Kasim said. - With Jaime Laude, Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde, AP