‘Free captives, then we talk’

Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva dared yesterday Abu Sayyaf leaders to release their remaining hostages before negotiations for their surrender can take place.

Villanueva raised the challenge in reaction to reports that Abu Sayyaf commanders Isnilun Hapilon and Aldam Tilao, better known as Abu Sabaya, have sent surrender feelers.

The AFP chief dismissed as "another ploy" the alleged offer by Sabaya and his men to turn themselves in.

"If they sincerely want to surrender, I challenge them to release their hostages first before we start talking," Villanueva said.

Sabaya and Hapilun have reportedly sent word they would give up provided the government would not prosecute them for their crimes. In exchange they would free their hostages — American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap.

Villanueva expressed optimism that government troops, backed by US soldiers, will soon rescue the hostages.

He indicated that the soldiers have already pinpointed the terrorists’ jungle hideout at the Sampinit complex in central Basilan, but could not strike for fear of endangering the lives of the hostages.

"We are so close (to the target)," Villanueva told reporters.

Citing intelligence reports, Villanueva said the hostages were being held in the hinterlands of Maluso town in Basilan.

Philippine and US military officials have also admitted having used the sophisticated spy plane P-3 Orion to accurately pinpoint the Abu Sayyaf lair in the jungles of Basilan.

Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Southern Command based in Zamboanga City, also dismissed the alleged surrender feelers as a mere "psywar" or propaganda tactic by Sabaya’s group.

Assuming that the surrender feelers were true, Cimatu gave assurances that no special treatment or privileges would be granted to those who would surrender.

Cimatu said the Abu Sayyaf rebels will be appropriately prosecuted for the crimes they have committed.

Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, head of Task Force Comet, revealed that the aircraft had been making surveillance flights over Basilan since last week.

"Whatever information the plane gathers is coordinated with the ground forces for verification," Sua said.

Asked if the information on the whereabouts of the hostages came from the P-3 Orion, Cimatu said the report came from "our command post in the area."

He also shrugged off reports that the Abu Sayyaf bandits were plotting another kidnapping caper to scuttle the military’s search and rescue operations in Basilan.

Although he downplayed the kidnap threat as old hat, he gave assurances that the military and the police were on alert to thwart the Abu Sayyaf’s plan.

A battalion-size contingent from the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force was dispatched to Mindanao last week to provide tactical support to the soldiers hunting down the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in Basilan island, venue of a six-month joint military exercise between the Philippines and the United States.

The controversial maneuvers in Basilan and nearby Zamboanga City, dubbed "Balikatan 02-1," involve 660 members of the US Special Forces, including 160 Green Beret commandos who have been divided into teams of 12 men each and assigned to the various AFP battalions hunting down the Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

Officials of both countries clarified that the US soldiers will limit their participation in the anti-Abu Sayyaf operations to being observers and trainers of the Filipino soldiers, but may fire back if attacked.

The war games are perceived to be a second front for Washington’s global campaign against terror, after Afghanistan, since the Abu Sayyaf has been said to have links with the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, principal suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Cimatu said despite the ongoing joint military exercise with US troops, rescue operations by the Philippine military were continuing in the jungle-clad Sampinit complex where Sabaya’s group was holed up along with the three hostages.

The Americans were seized by the Abu Sayyaf from the upscale Dos Palmas island resort off Palawan last May 27 while Yap was captured during a raid on a hospital compound in Lamitan town in Basilan last June 2.

A third American, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California was reportedly beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf in June last year "as an Independence Day gift" to the Arroyo administration.

A dozen Filipino hostages were also decapitated apparently to force ransom payments from the other captives seized from Dos Palmas.

Marine Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, Balikatan co-director, cited the US spy plane which reportedly conducted surveillance flights over the forest-clad Sampinit, the mountain redoubt of the Abu Sayyaf.

"Definitely, we will be more successful in tracking where they are and pinpointing their exact location," Teodosio said without elaborating.

Evading questions if the Americans now know the exact hideout of the kidnappers, Teodosio said; "Let us just say that we are now getting a bigger and more complete picture of the entire island of Basilan as far as surveillance (is) concerned."

"From what we knew, even the movement of the wild animals in the jungle, trees swaying to the breeze and cooking fires in houses are picked up at times," the general said.

One of three Chinook special operations helicopter deployed by the US Pacific Command for the war games crashed into the Bohol Strait off Negros Oriental last week, killing all 10 US servicemen on board.