THURSDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2007
6:48 MECCA TIME, 3:48 GMT
Court jails Abu Sayyaf kidnappers
The Abu Sayyaf group is believed by Western and
Philippine intelligence to have ties to al Qaeda
A Philippine court has sentenced 14 members of the
rebel Abu Sayyaf group to life in prison for a
high-profile mass kidnapping in 2001 in which five
people died.
The 14 men were found guilty of kidnapping for ransom
an American missionary couple and 18 others from a
Philippine beach resort in May 2001.
The hostages were held for more than a year on Basilan
island in the mainly-Muslim south of the Philippines.
The kidnappers beheaded American hostage Guillermo
Sobero, while US missionary Martin Burnham and three
other hostages were killed when troops mounted a
rescue attempt in June 2002.
Burnham and his wife Gracia had been celebrating their
18th wedding anniversary at a resort of the island of
Palawan when they were kidnapped.
Gracia Burnham was a key witness in the trial, which
opened in 2003 and lasted for more than three years.
She told the court she learned from the group's
leader, Abu Sabaya, that the kidnappers had received a
ransom from an unknown source, but that they still
refused to free her and her husband.
US missionary Martin Burnham was among four
killed during a rescue attempt in 2002 [EPA]
Most of the Abu Sayyaf's top leaders blamed for
orchestrating the kidnapping were killed by Philippine
troops after the abductions.
Four other rebels held in connection with the
kidnapping were killed in a botched prison break in
2005.
In total, 18 defendants including one woman were
brought to trial over the case, although four were
acquitted in Thursday's court ruling.
Of the four acquitted, three will remain in jail
because they face other kidnapping charges.
"We are satisfied with the judgment," state prosecutor
Peter Medalle told reporters after the verdict.
The kidnapping is widely seen as having been the main
trigger for the US to start providing aid and training
to Philippine troops to mount offensives against the
Abu Sayyaf.
The group, which is fighting for a separate Muslim
state in the southern islands of the Philippines, is
believed by Philippine and Western intelligence
agencies to have links with al-Qaeda.
In 2000, Abu Sayyaf gunmen seized 21 European and
Asian tourists from the Malaysian resort island of
Sipadan. All of them were freed after Libya offered
funds for their release.
Source: Agencies
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Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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