STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- And there's no Javier Solana or George Robertson, George Bush or Colin Powell, to urge their handpicked puppets to "exercise restraint," grant amnesty or address the "legitimate grievances" of rebels in the Philippines who, notwithstanding their similarities with the CIA's favorite contra group in the Balkans, at least have the excuse of being indigenous. June 14, 2001 Philippines Declare War on Kidnappers by MARCOS CALO MEDINA Associated Press Writer ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -- The government said Thursday it has stopped trying to negotiate with Muslim extremists holding more than two dozen hostages, sending reinforcements to search a southern island and hunt the insurgents down. Meanwhile, after three days of searching, there was still no sign of the body of an American hostage the rebels claimed to have beheaded. The government said the rebels may have been lying. Interior Secretary Joey Lina, in charge of police, said there is ''a strong possibility'' that Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., was still alive. The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding the hostages on southern Basilan island had already said they would no longer negotiate. On Thursday, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the government, too, would no longer make any attempts at talks. ''There's no point in talking anymore,'' he said. ''It's all-out war.'' President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo warned on national television Wednesday that eliminating the Abu Sayyaf could mean a ''long and bloody war.'' Gen. Romeo Dominguez, commander of the forces on Basilan, said Thursday he has 5,000 men scouring the island, after the addition of 1,000 Philippine Marines the day before. At least 16 soldiers have been killed and more than 50 wounded in fighting with the rebels over the past two weeks. Felix Dalugdugan, vice mayor of Lantawan town on Basilan, said 80 Abu Sayyaf rebels attacked the village of Atong Atong late Wednesday but were repelled by 38 militiamen and eight soldiers. Joel Maturan, mayor of Tipo Tipo town on the southeastern corner of the island, said residents saw the other two Americans held by the Abu Sayyaf -- Kansas missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham -- last weekend. He said Martin Burnham was in camouflage fatigues and his wife wore a Muslim headdress, and both appeared in good health. Military officials said they received unconfirmed reports that the couple was spotted again Tuesday on the eastern side of Basilan but gave no further details. Rebel leader Abu Sabaya claimed he beheaded Sobero on Tuesday as a ''present'' to the country on Independence Day. The group also holds about 25 Filipinos captured in three raids over the last 2� weeks. A headless torso was found Tuesday near a suspected temporary rebel camp close to Basilan's southern coast. Authorities identified the victim as Mohaimin Sahi, a Muslim cleric who went on a private mission to an Abu Sayyaf camp to win the release of the hostages. But, in a satellite telephone call to a local radio station Thursday, Sabaya said the cleric is still alive. He put a man on the phone who said he was Sahi. ''I'm a prisoner. I'd like to leave but they won't let me,'' the man said. Military spokesman Gen. Edilberto Adan insisted the cleric is dead and said the voice was likely that of a guerrilla. ''It would be bad for Abu Sabaya to incur the wrath of his fellow Muslims having killed their religious leader,'' he said. The Abu Sayyaf says it wants a southern Islamic state, but the government calls the rebels mere bandits. Muslims are a minority in the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines, but they form a majority in the southern islands where the Abu Sayyaf operates. � __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Spot the hottest trends in music, movies, and more. http://buzz.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
