Gracia clams up on Abu collusion allegation

WASHINGTON – Former American hostage Gracia Burnham will not testify in a congressional inquiry over her allegation that a military general had colluded with the Abu Sayyaf, her publicist said.

Burnham alleged in her newly released book, "In the Presence of My Enemies," that a military general colluded with her captors and demanded a 50 percent cut of the ransom. Philippine lawmakers have called for an investigation.

After creating a stir, she has decided to talk no more so she can lay to rest speculation that she knows more than she has said in her book.

She also turned down a request by The STAR for a follow-up interview. "She has no desire to say any more than she has said in the book," her publicist Nancy Guthrie said on Saturday.

Asked about the possibility of the author being invited to a state dinner US President George W. Bush is hosting for President Arroyo on May 19, Guthrie said: "I am very doubtful that she will come to DC for a state dinner even if she is asked because of her children’s needs."

Shortly after her rescue in June last year, Burnham met with Bush at the White House. Bush extended his condolences for the death of Burnham’s husband, Martin, who was killed during the Philippine military rescue operation.

A Filipina nurse held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf, Edibora Yap, was also killed.

In her only interview with a Philippine newspaper since the publication of the book, Burnham told The STAR last Wednesday she had no personal knowledge of any wrongdoing by the military and was merely relaying in her book what she heard from or was told by the gunmen.

"If there was collusion between the military and the Abu Sayyaf, God is the righteous judge and someday that will be made right," she later said in a statement.

In her most stinging revelation, Burnham claimed Filipino soldiers once brought food to the hostages and the guerrillas because an unidentified general was trying to arrange a 50 percent share of any ransom.

Negotiations by the general in the region — done partly with the help of a local radio station — eventually fell through because the gunmen were only willing to give up 20 percent, according to the book. – With Benjie Villa