It is cause for comment when a great many news outlets seem to distance themselves from an article they'd once published. Such would appear to be the case with an Associated Press article by Jim Gomez from May 16, 2000. CNN, Fox News, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, the Miami Herald, the Toronto Star all published this AP piece, or something similar, but other than a discrete reference, evidence of publication was quickly scrubbed off the web---saying to me that the information contained within was immediately regretted. So the pages were pulled even before archive.org could capture a screenshot so that robots.txt could avail to hide it from view.
Were it not for the web amalgamator WorldNews, which preserved the titles and opening sentences of in the calender below, there'd be no record of the article's wide distribution.
Of course, this only draws attention to the work. Gomez's article was preserved online however, by the lovely and honorable Topeka Capitol-Journal, and its text highlights an anomaly of the Abu Sayyaf hostage-taking story, with their strange ability to elude detection and capture by military and police authorities for months and years in their "jungle lairs" and "mountain hideouts" on Sulu and Basilan Islands in the Sulu archipelago of the southern Philippines.
First, are the established locations of the rebel's base camps on the two islands, like Camp Abdurajak on Basilan, so accessible that when the military finally decided to go in they did so by landing helicopters on site
[see the May 1, 2000, Philippine Star, "Sayyaf issues demands."]
Second, was Abu Sayyaf's constant utilization of cell, or satellite phones for tactical communication. This rebel group didn't go in for written manifestos, and the black hands of secret couriers. Their only public relations outlet was to call in to a local radio station for a shout out, which they did with unending frequency.
Weren't we told that Osama bin Laden had been warned off of using a cell phone, since his American opponents could utilize its transponder capabilities to pinpoint his precise Afghani cave location? Since German intelligence had intercepted cell phone calls of the government negotiator Robert Aventajado, which led Der Spiegel to make the unprecedented public accusation that he and President Joseph Estrada were raking in a fifty-ten split of the reported $18 million U.S. dollars in ransom payments ostensibly made to the rogue Muslim kidnappers, it is unlikely that outlaws with a penchant for beheadings would have a more secure communication system.
In this context, (and forgetting about the implications of "Freed hostages in touch with rebels 'We receive phone calls from captors',") the fact in the article that the hostages were allowed to place calls home on a "journalist's satellite telephone," is one of those not-very-logical, writterly touches that unintentionally places a stress on another untoward aspect of the Abu "Give Me One Good Reason to Start a Christian Crusade," Sayyaf saga.
Never before, perhaps, in an international story of this rank, have journalists so inserted themselves as dramatis personae into the action they're covering. In addition to the already awkward role of being narrative emissaries between rebels in their "strongholds" in island "hinterlands," and the real world lying outside, some journalists succumbed to an ordeal experience as kidnap victims themselves.
Then there's Arlyn De La Cruz, a reputed former romantic partner of one of the early Abu Sayyaf leadership. Her 100-day, 2002 abduction story is sketchy. A blog, Eye on Ethics, Codes of Ethics for Journalists in Asia, Romancing the Source, has this to say:
In 2002, broadcast journalist Arlyn de La Cruz disappeared for almost 100 days in Mindanao while covering the Abu Sayyaf Group. She pointed to the military as her abductors when she resurfaced. Perceived by her colleagues as specially close to one of the Abu Sayyaf’s leaders, she said she was seized by a military group for damaging troop morale with her reports about the group. De La Cruz insisted, however, that there was nothing wrong with her covering a group with one of whose leaders she was close, because, she said, it helped her “get the story”.
De la Cruz herself put it this way in a June 11, 2008, Philippine Daily Inquirer article, They kept asking about ransom, TV journalist recalls:
My abductors—men wearing military fatigues bearing the insignia of the “Tabak First Infantry Division”—seized me on the beach of Barangay Tandiong and held me hostage for 98 days.Since there isn't a lot of difference in corruptibility between the military, the paramilitary, and the extrajudicial in Philippine society, (even the Catholic Church was led by a Cardinal Sin,) de la Cruz is entitled to have it both ways.
But when Gomez's AP article has hostage Stephane Loisy complaining about his "humiliation at the hands of the captors," saying, "The men come to urinate on the outside of our hut,"' de la Cruz trumps him in spades. She has her captors pissing on her!
One day, they blindfolded and interrogated me regarding the text messages I was still getting on my mobile phone. Later in the night they pushed me into a shallow pit—and then someone pissed on me.
Moral? Don't text while Hostaging.
[P.S. Well, I got that one right. See below for the December 30, 2001, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Satellites that kill. by Art Villasanta, with its notice of the April 21, 1996, missile death of Dzhokhar Dudayev, president of the rebellious Muslim republic of Chechnya, who chatted just a little bit too long on his satellite phone one day. What I don't understand, though, is how can Art, a "a major contributor to a weekly on-line magazine about Asian satellites" not apply his conclusions locally? There seems to be a tacit agreement amongst those in the know that the Abu Sayyaf charade was a staged media diversion undertaken for the arousement of the hoi polloi, and while this shadow charade was playacted a legitimate Muslim insurgency was simultaneously being enacted by Mothers I'd Like To Fuck, or, excuse me, the MILF. The American military seems most interested in the live-ammo-human-target aspects of "training" in an out-of-the-way, disempowered, brown and non-Christian locale.]
[P.S. Well, I got that one right. See below for the December 30, 2001, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Satellites that kill. by Art Villasanta, with its notice of the April 21, 1996, missile death of Dzhokhar Dudayev, president of the rebellious Muslim republic of Chechnya, who chatted just a little bit too long on his satellite phone one day. What I don't understand, though, is how can Art, a "a major contributor to a weekly on-line magazine about Asian satellites" not apply his conclusions locally? There seems to be a tacit agreement amongst those in the know that the Abu Sayyaf charade was a staged media diversion undertaken for the arousement of the hoi polloi, and while this shadow charade was playacted a legitimate Muslim insurgency was simultaneously being enacted by Mothers I'd Like To Fuck, or, excuse me, the MILF. The American military seems most interested in the live-ammo-human-target aspects of "training" in an out-of-the-way, disempowered, brown and non-Christian locale.]
*May 16, 2000, BBC News, Rebels to discuss sick hostage,
May 16, 2000, The Los Angeles Times, Philippine Hostages Phone Home,
May 16, 2000, Fox News, Philippines Captives Get to Phone Home, But Negotiations Delayed Again,
May 16, 2000, The Toronto Star, Captives in Philippines get to phone home,
May 16, 2000, The Miami Herald, Rebels to discuss release of ill German woman,
May 16, 2000, AP Online, Philippine Hostages Phone Home, by Jim Gomez,
May 16, 2000, The Los Angeles Times, Philippine Rebels OK New Discussions,
May 16, 2000, The Associated Press, Philippines, Rebels Set Conditions,
May 16, 2000, The Times of India, Negotiators returning for Philippine hostages talks,
May 17, 2000, The Times of India, Philippine rebels set rider for hostage release,
May 17, 2000, The Boston Globe, Philippines hostages are allowed to call kin,
May 17, 2000, NZ Herald, Estrada expects hostages to be freed soon,
*May 17, 2000, AP / The Topeka Capitol-Journal, Hostages get to phone home, by Jim Gomez,
*May 17 2000, The Independent, Jungle hostages allowed phone call home,
*May 17, 2000, The Birmingham Post (England), Hostages phone home. [at Highbeam]
*May 17, 2000, The Register-Guard International, [page 13A, AP article]
May 17, 2000, South China Morning Post, Captives get phone calls to families,
May 17, 2000, CNN, Philippines jungle captives get to phone home, negotiations,
*May 17, 2000, The Florida Times Union, Jungle captives phone home; talks delayed,
May 18, 2000, The Washington Post, Philippine Rebels Up Demands,
May 18, 2000, Manila Bulletin, 2 More Battalions Going to Mindanao,
*May 18, 2000, The Scotsman, Rebels issue list of demands for release of captives, by Jim Gomez in Jolo,
September 4, 2000, New Straits Times, Freed hostages in touch with rebels 'We receive phone calls from captors'October 16, 2000, Manila Bulletin, OIC Mission to Visit Sulu, 700+ words,
May 17, 2000, The Associated Press / The Topeka Capitol-Journal, Hostages get to phone home, by Jim Gomez, Posted: Wednesday,
JOLO, Philippines -- Negotiations for the freedom of 21 people being held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again Tuesday, but many of them were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone.
Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the hostages appeared weak during the visit and asked for medicine, the journalists who visited them said.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," Franck Berruier, of Europe One radio, said of his satellite phone.
Formal talks for their freedom were to start today, but government negotiator Robert Aventajado said Tuesday they would be delayed until Thursday or Friday.
The government is insisting on first receiving a list of written demands from the splintered Abu Sayyaf, the smaller and more radical of two guerrilla groups fighting for an Islamic state in the impoverished southern Philippines.
Aventajado had flown to Manila on Sunday to consult with President Joseph Estrada and was to return to Jolo today.
The Abu Sayyaf seized the 21 hostages April 23 from Sipadan Island, a Malaysian diving resort, and took them to Jolo, about an hour away by boat. The group are: three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans, two Finns, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.
The rebels also are holding about eight Filipino hostages on the nearby island of Basilan out of an original group of about 50, including many children, who were taken from two schools March 20. Some of those hostages were released, 15 were rescued and six were killed.
Violence has been rising in the southern Mindanao region since last month, when the army attacked a 10-mile stretch of highway held by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the larger and more moderate rebel group. The MILF pulled out of peace talks in response to the attack, but offered Monday to resume negotiations. More than 250,000 people have been displaced in the fighting.
Estrada, who flew to China for an official visit Tuesday, has been criticized for leaving the country during the crisis.
"There is no reason to worry while I am away," Estrada said in a departure speech. "I am confident as I leave for this mission that we shall have a satisfactory resolution soon upon my return."
The Abu Sayyaf is willing to make the first negotiating topic the quick release of Renate Wallert, 57, a German hostage with very high blood pressure, but her freedom depends on the government meeting certain conditions, rebel leader Abu Escobar said Tuesday.
Those conditions still are being discussed by Abu Sayyaf leaders, he told The Associated Press.
French hostage Sonia Wendling was quoted in Tuesday's Le Figaro newspaper as saying that after an interview with French TV station TF1, a rebel leader named Commander Global instructed her on to how to handle future interviews.
He "ordered me to brush my hair, to put on a proper T-shirt and to cry during the interview," she said.
Wendling's companion, Stephane Loisy, said life was difficult.
"For several days there was nothing to eat. Today we had nothing but burnt rice because there was very little water. They keep the manioc and the bananas for themselves."
He spoke of humiliation at the hands of the captors, saying, "The men come to urinate on the outside of our hut."
Lebanese hostage Marie Moarbes said the kidnappers snickered at them. "When we cry, they laugh," she said.
May 17 2000, The Independent, Jungle hostages allowed phone call home,
NEGOTIATIONS for their freedom were delayed again, but many of the 21 Asian and Western hostages held by Muslim separatists for three weeks in the Philippine jungle were able to phone home for the first time yesterday.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them,'' said Franck Berruier of Europe One radio, who carried in the satellite phone that the hostages used.
Most of the Western hostages were able to make calls, he said. The rebels are holding three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans, two Finns, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.
Formal talks for the freedom of the hostages were to start today, but negotiator Robert Aventajado said they would be delayed until tomorrow or Friday.
The government is insisting on receiving a list of written demands from the splintered Abu Sayyaf, the smaller and more radical of two guerrilla groups fighting for an Islamic state in the impoverished southern Philippines.
May 17, 2000, The Birmingham Post (England), Hostages phone home. [at Highbeam]
MANILA Negotiations for their freedom were delayed again, but many of the 21 Asian and Western hostages held by Muslim separatists for three weeks in the Philippines jungle were able to phone home for the first time yesterday.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," said Mr Franck Berruier, of Europe One radio, who carried in the satellite phone that the hostages used.
Most of the Western hostages were able to make calls, he said. The rebels are holding three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans two Finns, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.
The Abu Sayyaf seized the 21 hostages on April 23 from Sipadan Island, a Malaysian diving resort, and took them to Jolo, about an hour away by boat.
May 17, 2000, The Register-Guard International, [page 13A, AP article below]
May 16, 2000, AP Online, Philippine Hostages Phone Home, by Jim Gomez, Associated Press Writer,
JOLO, Philippines (AP) -- Negotiations for the freedom of 21 people being held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again Tuesday, but many of them were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone.
Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the hostages appeared weak during the visit and asked for medicine, the journalists who visited them said.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," Franck Berruier of Europe One radio said of his satellite phone.
Formal talks for their freedom were to start Wednesday, but government negotiator Robert Aventajado said Tuesday they would be delayed until Thursday or Friday.
The government is insisting on first receiving a list of written demands from the splintered Abu Sayyaf, the smaller and more radical of two guerrilla groups fighting for an Islamic state in the impoverished southern Philippines.
Aventajado had flown to Manila Sunday to consult with President Joseph Estrada and was to return Wednesday to Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf seized the 21 hostages on April 23 from Sipadan Island, a Malaysian diving resort, and took them to Jolo, about an hour away by boat. The group are: three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans, two Finns, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.
The rebels are also holding about eight Filipino hostages on the nearby island of Basilan out of an original group of about 50, including many children, who were taken from two schools on March 20. Some of those hostages were released, 15 were rescued and six were killed.
Violence has been rising in the southern Mindanao region since last month, when the army attacked a 10-mile stretch of highway held by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the larger and more moderate rebel group. The MILF pulled out of peace talks in response to the attack, but offered Monday to resume negotiations. More than 250,000 people have been displaced in the fighting.
Estrada, who flew to China for an official visit Tuesday, has been criticized for leaving the country during the crisis.
"There is no reason to worry while I am away," Estrada said in a departure speech. "I am confident as I leave for this mission that we shall have a satisfactory resolution soon upon my return."
The Abu Sayyaf is willing to make the first negotiating topic the quick release of Renate Wallert, 57, a German hostage with very high blood pressure, but her freedom depends on the government meeting certain conditions, rebel leader Abu Escobar said Tuesday.
Those conditions are still being discussed by Abu Sayyaf leaders, he told The Associated Press.
French hostage Sonia Wendling was quoted in Tuesday's Le Figaro newspaper as saying that after an interview with French TV station TF1, a rebel leader named Commander Global instructed her on to how to handle future interviews.
He "ordered me to brush my hair, to put on a proper T-shirt and to cry during the interview," she said.
Wendling's companion, Stephane Loisy, said life was difficult.
"For several days there was nothing to eat. Today we had nothing but burnt rice because there was very little water. They keep the manioc and the bananas for themselves."
He spoke of humiliation at the hands of the captors, saying, "The men come to urinate on the outside of our hut."
Lebanese hostage Marie Moarbes said the kidnappers snickered at them. "When we cry, they laugh," she said.
May 16, 2000, The Toronto Star, Captives in Philippines get to phone home,
JOLO, Philippines (AP) -Negotiations for the freedom of 21 people being held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again today, but many of the captives were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone. Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the...
May 16, 2000, Fox News, Philippines Captives Get to Phone Home, But Negotiations Delayed Again,
JOLO, Philippines — Negotiations for the freedom of the 21 people being held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again Tuesday, but many of them were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone. Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the hostages appeared weak during the visit and asked for medicine, the journalists who visited them said. "They were very happy. They said it was the most... more »
May 16, 2000, The Miami Herald, Rebels to discuss release of ill German woman,
JOLO, Philippines -- (AP) -- Muslim rebels holding 21 hostages on a remote southern Philippine island have agreed to make freedom for an ailing German woman the first topic of negotiations, a guerrilla leader said today. The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are willing to discuss the quick release of Renate Wallert, 57, who has high blood pressure, but her freedom depends on the government meeting certain conditions, Abu Escobar said. Those conditions are still being discussed among Abu Sayyaf leaders, he told The Associated Press. Negotiator Robert Aventajado said Monday that the government has identified about five... more »
May 16, 2000, The Los Angeles Times, Philippine Hostages Phone Home,
May 17, 2000, The Boston Globe, Philippines hostages are allowed to call kin,
JOLO, Philippines - Negotiations for the freedom of 21 people being held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again yesterday, but many of the captives were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone. Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the...
May 17, 2000, CNN, Philippines jungle captives get to phone home, negotiations
(AP) -- Negotiations for their freedom were delayed again, but many of the 21 Asian and Western hostages held by Muslim separatists for three weeks in the Philippine jungle were able to phone home for the first time Tuesday. "They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," said Franck Berruier of Europe One radio, who carried in the satellite phone that the hostages used. Most of the Western hostages were able to make calls, he said. The rebels are holding three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans, two Finns, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos. Formal talks... more »
May 17, 2000, South China Morning Post, Captives get phone calls to families,
AGENCIES in Jolo, Philippines Negotiations for their freedom were delayed again, but many of the 21 Asian and Western hostages held by Muslim separatists for more than three weeks in the Philippine jungle were able to phone home for the first time yesterday. "They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," said Franck Berruier, of France's Europe One radio, whose satellite phone the hostages used. Most... more »
May 17, 2000, AP / The Dallas Morning News, Negotiations for hostages delayed,
JOLO, Philippines -Negotiations for the freedom of 21 hostages being held in the Philippine jungle were delayed again Tuesday, but many of them were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone. Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo allowed most of the Western hostages to make calls. But some of the hostages appeared weak during the visit and asked for medicine,...more»
May 17, 2000, The Florida Times Union, Jungle captives phone home; talks delayed,
JOLO, Philippines -- Negotiations for the freedom of 21 people held hostage in the Philippine jungle were delayed again yesterday, but many of them were able to call home for the first time on a journalist's satellite telephone.
Muslim rebels who have been holding the group for three weeks on the southern island of Jolo let most of the Western hostages make calls. But some of the hostages appeared weak during the visit and asked for medicine, the journalists who visited them said.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," Franck Berruier of Europe One radio said of his satellite phone.
Formal talks for their freedom were …
May 18, 2000, The Times of India, Philippine kidnappers demand free Islamic state,
The Times of India 2000-05-18: JOLO, Philippines: Muslim rebels holding 21 Western and Asian hostages have issued their first written conditions for their captives' release, including creation of an independent Islamic state - a demand the Philippine government has repeatedly refused. The demands are likely to complicate and prolong negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf rebels, which are scheduled to start Thursday or Friday. The highly political two-page manifesto described the kidnapping as a "minor thing" compared to injustices suffered by the Philippines' Muslim minority. Earlier demands included $1 million and then $2 million for the release... more »
May 18, 2000, The Scotsman, Rebels issue list of demands for release of captives, by Jim Gomez In Jolo,
REBELS holding 21 hostageshave issued their first written conditions for their captives' release, including creation of an independent Islamic state - a demand the Philippine government has repeatedly refused.
The demands are likely to complicate and prolong negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf rebels, which are to start today or tomorrow.
The highly political two-page manifesto described the kidnapping as a "minor thing" compared to injustices suffered by the country's Muslim minority.
Earlier demands included $1 million ( 660,000 pounds) and then $2 million for the release of an ailing German captive, the foreign secretary, Domingo Siazon, said yesterday.
The …
May 16, 2000, BBC News, Rebels to discuss sick hostage,
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Aventajado called for written demands from the rebels
Filipino guerrillas holding 21 hostages have agreed to make the release of a sick German captive the first topic of negotiations.
Abu Escobar, a spokesperson for the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, told the Associated Press that they were open to discuss the case of Renate Wallert but her speedy release would depend on the government meeting certain conditions.
He added that rebel leaders were still hammering out those conditions.
The hostages were kidnapped on 23 April by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan and brought to Jolo island in the Philippines by speedboat.
Chief negotiator Robert Aventajado said a written list of rebel demands for the release of the hostages was expected on Wednesday, when formal negotiations begin.
"We hope they will give us their demands in written form because there are so many demands flying around that we cannot determine which is the real demand," he said.
Mr Aventajado has warned there could be months of tough bargaining ahead.
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Estrada ignored criticism that he was leaving the country amid a crisis
President Eric Estrada has named Mr Aventajado as chief negotiator - the third person to be take on the role in the three-week crisis.
Mr Estrada expressed confidence that Mr Aventajado's team could make some headway.
"I am confident that we shall have a satisfactory resolution soon," said Mr Estrada, who left Manila for a five-day trip to China on Tuesday despite criticism that he was leaving amid a crisis.
Demands
The initial demands made informally by rebels include a stop to all operations by the military in the provinces where hostages are being held.
The guerrillas have also asked to meet the armed forces chief of staff and the national police chief.
The government has agreed that troops should keep away from the area of the talks but ruled out some demands, such as the creation of an Islamic state and the establishment of Islamic law in the largely Muslim south.
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Renate Wallert has hypertension
It is unclear whether the rebels are also demanding a ransom.
Some reports have said the rebels had asked for up to 70,000 pesos ($1,690) for each hostage.
Phoning home
The hostages were able to phone home on Tuesday when a journalist brought a satellite phone to the rebel camp.
"They were very happy. They said it was the most beautiful gift we gave them," said Franck Berruier of Europe One radio, who lent them the phone.
He said the hostages looked weak and asked for medicine.
The journalists stumbled onto the rebel camp when driving in the town of Patikul. Their car was stopped by armed men, who then accompanied them to the rebel hideout.
"They are saying that they don't really want ransom for these people," said Kjerspi Strommen of Norwegian Broadcasting. "They want attention for their cause... independence for Mindanao."
Mindanao is the poorest region in the country.
Jerome Fritel, who writes for France Soir, added that the rebels did not trust the government. "They want international mediation," he said.
He added Mrs Wallert appeared to be in "bad condition". "She can't walk very well," he said.
Depressed
French journalists who interviewed the hostages at the weekend said Mrs Wallert was lying in a hammock, mumbling incoherently.
"The German woman is very bad, very ill... She's been having nightmares," said journalist Florence Compain of the French newspaper Le Figaro.
"When she wakes up, she starts crying. They were all very depressed."
French television journalist Michel Scott, who interviewed two rebel leaders, warned there had been no indication the hostages would be released soon.
Presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno has acknowledged the rebels are in a strong negotiating position.
December 30, 2001, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Satellites that kill. by Art Villasanta,
AMERICA'S most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, avoids using wireless telephones. Some Western analysts say it's because he fears American spies would be listening with their sophisticated devices. Others believe it's because he remembers all too well the fate of another Muslim leader who paid with his life for talking too long on a wireless telephone.
Just five years ago, on the night of April 21, 1996, Dzhokhar Dudayev, president of the rebellious Muslim republic of Chechnya and the most wanted man in Russia, stepped out of a small house in a forest some 20 kilometers from the Chechen capital of Grozny to make a phone call. He switched on his Inmarsat (International Maritime Satellite) telephone and called up Konstantin Borovoy, a liberal deputy in the Russian Parliament who served as his Moscow liaison. According to Borovoy, he and Dudayev were discussing peace terms being offered by Russian President Boris Yeltsin to end the costly war. The two-year war for independence being waged by the predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya began in December 1994 and was going badly for the Russian army.
Dudayev, a former general in the Soviet air force, had thwarted three previous attempts at detection by not talking too long on his satellite phone. Russian signals intelligence (Sigint) aircraft such as the electronics-packed Ilyushin IL-76 had tried in vain to lock onto Dudayev's phone signal since January.
This time, however, Dudayev and Borovoy had to talk at length because the peace offer was of vital importance. The Russians had no Sigint aircraft in the air that evening. But one low flying Suhkoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft was in the vicinity. As the Su-25 circled, its pilot received the coordinates of Dudayev's location. The Russian pilot quickly "painted" the target coordinates with his laser designator and fired his supersonic air-to-ground missiles. One missile hurtled toward Dudayev who was still talking on his satellite phone. The missile's 110-kilogram warhead exploded a short distance from Dudayev, who died minutes later.
Dudayev's assassination, which the Chechens blame on Russia's secret service, would not have been possible without the crucial information pinpointing Dudayev's location. Evidence has since suggested that the source of that information may have been an American Sigint satellite.
The Americans strongly deny any role in Dudayev's death. Some Western military analysts, however, argue that the Russians didn't have the equipment to mount such a sophisticated attack. They suggest that a Western satellite, most probably American, supplied the vital information that led to Dudayev's demise.
The "likely suspects" in the Dudayev episode are the "Chalet" and "Magnum" Sigint satellites operated by America's super-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This agency, whose existence was only officially acknowledged in the 1990s, operates all the satellites used by different agencies for taking pictures and listening to transmissions. Twelve Chalet and Magnum satellites are believed to be operational, and may have been secretly reinforced by others since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Resembling huge umbrellas with their stalks pointed earthward, the Chalet (now known as Vortex) and Magnum satellites are basically passive radio receivers that intercept signals from cellular phones, satellite phones, military "walkie-talkies" and other wireless communication devices. From their orbital stations 22,000 miles in space, they "listen" to the electromagnetic signals of millions of low-powered radio and mobile phones every day and relay this data to supercomputers at the US National Security Agency (NSA) for analysis.
The four or six Magnum satellites, whose umbrella-shaped receiving antennas are 100 meters in diameter, are equipped with "feed horn" arrays that allow them to intercept signals from widely different locations. During the 1991 Gulf War, one of the Magnums had a feed horn intercepting Iraqi communications in Kuwait, Baghdad and nearby locations at the same time. Under favorable conditions, these satellites can apparently keep track of individual mobile phone conversations, as well.
The Chalet satellites, of which four are said to be in operation, are older versions of the Magnums and are supported by a much older Sigint fleet of six satellites that goes by the name of Rhyolite.
The alleged use of either a Chalet or Magnum satellite in the Dudayev episode illustrates the extreme vulnerability of electronic communications to clever spies such as the NSA.
The week after Sept. 11, an unknown number of America's Sigint satellites were reported to have been "re-tasked" to hunt down Bin Laden. Previously, many of these satellites kept watch over America's strategic competitors such as Russia and China and avowed enemies such as Iraq. The re-tasking of some Sigint satellites probably involved adjusting the satellites' orbits so that the satellites' feed horns point at Afghanistan.
It is apparent that the US military hopes their Sigint satellites will intercept phone conversations of Bin Laden or his network, a task made easier by the small size and minimal communications in Afghanistan. Any electronic emitter not proven to be from a friendly source can be assumed to be hostile and thus a target for tracking and analysis.
Bin Laden and al-Qaida cannot maintain radio silence indefinitely. This was proven when Bin Laden called his mother on his satellite phone, a call that was probably intercepted by a Sigint satellite and later revealed to the media.
The disclosure of this taped intercept apparently made him more cautious about making phone calls and caused him to rely more on human couriers to transmit orders to his widely dispersed terrorists.
Some satellite experts, however, contend that the incredible capabilities of America's Sigint satellites may not be as effective when used against small, dispersed bands of terrorists who make it a point to maintain radio silence. The satellites work best against large organized units such as an enemy army that cannot function effectively without electronic communications.
An enemy with sparse communications, or who practices good signals security, is less vulnerable to signals espionage from space. Locating an electronically silent Bin Laden via Sigint thus becomes dependent on lucky intercepts.
Complementing America's Sigint satellites in Afghanistan are airborne Sigint systems that include the U-2R and TR-1 spy planes and RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft that carry passive electronic sensors for monitoring electronic emitters such as satellite phones.
The Sigint satellites are part of an overall intelligence gathering campaign that also embraces imaging intelligence (Imint) satellites whose cameras can identify surface objects less than three inches in size from 300 miles up while traveling at more than 20,000 miles per hour. The newest "Keyhole" Imint satellites also have heat-sensing infrared capabilities that allow them to see targets on the ground at night.
A new generation of in-orbit radar imagery satellites, called "Lacrosse" or "Vega," also make it possible to obtain high-resolution images of the ground even through heavy cloud cover.
Electronic intelligence (Elint) satellites are also included in this intelligence mix. A primary Elint program is "White Cloud," a satellite constellation that is the US Navy's principal means of over-the-horizon reconnaissance and target designation for its weapons systems that include surface-to-surface missiles.
It is estimated that the United States has over 200 military satellites in orbit with four to five being added to this number every year. These satellites cost the Americans over $100 billion, according to some estimates.
Sigint, Imint and Elint satellites provide the long-distance ears and eyes of a combined effort to ferret out Bin Laden and al-Qaida in Afghanistan's inhospitable terrain. They give the United States and its allies a significant technological edge, but will not produce victory in Afghanistan.
Art Villasanta is a major contributor to a weekly on-line magazine about Asian satellites. He has created a website for Filipino veterans of the Korean War.
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