Thursday, November 8, 2012

Orlando Sentinel

January 26, 1986, Orlando Sentinel, The Mess That Is The Philippines,
April 21, 1986, Los Angeles Times, Aquino Offers Truce To Speed Rebel Surrender,
August 25, 1986, Chicago Tribune, Aquino Puts Talk Of Coup Far Behind She's On Trip Abroad...
August 31, 1986, Dallas Morning News, 6 Months After Marcos, Philippines Is Rebuilding,
September 6, 1986, Washington Post, Aquino Talks With Rebel Leader She Warns She Will Not Allow Secession From Philippines,
September 7, 1986, New York Times, Communists To Consider Cease-fire In Philippines,
October 19, 1986, Washington Post, U.S. Missionaries' Support Of Communists Stirs Philippine Clash,

January 5, 1987, United Press International, Philippine Moslems Agree To Pact,
January 26, 1987, KNT News Service, Philippine Military Turns Up Plot By Marcos Loyalists,
February 1, 1987, United Press International, Waite's Job Among Most Dangerous Hostage Negotiator Like Priest, Ambassador,
February 1, 1987, Can Aquino Pass Test Of Vote On Constitution?, by Menandro M. de Mesa,
April 10, 1987, Orlando Sentinel, The government and Moslem rebels...,
June 22, 1987, Orlando Sentinel, It was the fourth bombing of a Manila building in a week,
October 8, 1987, Orlando Sentinel, An alliance of renegade soldiers and right-wing politicians...

February 8, 1988, United Press International, Guerrillas List U.S. Targets In Philippines,
February 29, 1988, United Press International, Tunnel Cave-in Kills Diggers In Philippine Treasure Hunt,

November 16, 1989, Orlando Sentinel, Suspected Muslim rebels knocked out power lines,

March 5, 1990, Los Angeles Times, Philippine Troops Hit Rebel Town Supporters Of Renegade...,
April 24, 1990, Orlando Sentinel, Bank Will Be Handed Over To Philippine Government,
August 26, 1990, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Soldiers Suspects In Bombing,
September 24, 1990, Orlando Sentinel, Army Rebels Suspected in Manila Hotel Bombings,
December 22, 1990, Orlando Sentinel, Aquino Taps Interim Chief For Philippines Military,

April 1, 1991, Orlando Sentinel, Kidnappers Set Ransom, Threaten To Kill A Priest,
April 5, 1991, Orlando Sentinel, Aquino Orders Armed Forces To Stop Kidnappings,
August 6, 1991, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Police Capture Top Commander Of Rebels,

November 18, 1992, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino To Howard Stern: Those Are Fighting Words,
December 14, 1992, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Attack Village, Kill 40 Filipinos,
December 31, 1992, Washington Post, Filipino Rebels Free Missionary Seized Oct. 22,

February 14, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Warns Its Travelers Of Danger In Afghanistan,
February 28, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, Airport In The Philippines Bombed,
December 15, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Government To Auction Part Of Refiner,
December 28, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Government Says Typhoon Killed 47,

May 27, 1994, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Military Nabs Mastermind Of Hit Squad,
June 10, 1994, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Kidnappers Seek Ransom For 21 Hostages,

April 8, 1995, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Troops Chasing Muslim Gunmen In Hills,
April 10, 1995, Orlando Sentinel,Philippine Military Says 19 Muslim Extremists Dead,
September 8, 1995, Orlando Sentinel, Volcano Blamed For Flash Floods 14 Filipinos Die,

August 20, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine, Rebel Leaders Announce Peace Settlement,
August 31, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Muslims Celebrate After Peace Pact Is Signed,
September 10, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Rebels Elect Leader In 'Boringly Peaceful' Vote,
November 14, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Supplies Low For Evacuees Of Village In Philippines,

January 29, 1997, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Military Balks At Push To Prohibit Liquor,
July 9, 1997, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Government Threatens To Close Resorts,
September 22, 1997, Orlando Sentinel, Half A Million Filipinos March Against President,

May 10, 1998, Orlando Sentinel, Campaign In Philippines Culminates In Bombings,
May 30, 1998, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Announces Country's New President,

January 19, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Government To Keep Death Penalty,
April 13, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Campaigning In Algeria Ends In Massacre Of 10,
August 29, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Girl's Abduction Ignites Bloodshed In Philippines,
September 12, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Movie Audience Members Injured By Grenade Blast,

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March 27, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Filipinos To Join Lawsuits Against Japanese Firms,
May 7, 2000, Washington Post, Filipino Troops Find Headless Bodies,
May 13, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Islamic Rebels To Release Ill Hostage, Officials Say,
May 14, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Missing Journalists Return Safely In The Philippines,
May 16, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Leader OKs Talks To Free Hostages,
May 21, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Talks To Free 21 Hostages Might Begin This Week,
May 22, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Child Hostages Rescued From Rebels In Philippines,
May 25, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Kidnap Ordeal Could Hinge On Ransom,
May 26, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Hostages In Philippines Say Hopes Are Dimming,
May 28, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Talks Begin For Release Of Philippine Hostages,
May 30, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, German Report: Bin Laden Is Backing Filipino Rebels,
June 11, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels In Philippines Move Some Hostages,
June 13, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Military Shells 4 Villages Held By Rebels,
June 15, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels' Demand Rejected In Hostage Negotiations,
June 25, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels in Philippines Free Malaysian Hostage,
June 30, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Rebels Won't Free More Hostages Until Deal,
July 21, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Rebels Free 1 Hostage, Renege On 3,
July 30, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Guerrillas Release 2 Hostages In Philippines,
August 8, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Millions In Ransom Paid To Rebels In Philippines,
August 23, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Libya To Pay $1 Million Per Philippine Hostage,
August 25, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Police Find Bodies Of 5 Hostages,
September 7, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Muslims To Free Hostages,
September 8, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels May Detain Hostages,
September 22, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Military Tries To Free Hostage,
December 1, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Filipinos Protest Estrada,
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January 21, 2001, Knight Ridder, Arroyo Shares Qualities With Bush,
January 23, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Another New Leader Gets To Work,
January 24, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Filipinos Restrict Estrada,
January 25, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Estrada Gets Cold Shoulder,
February 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Timeline,
April 6, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Call Off Execution,
April 11, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Surrender Or Die, Rebels Told,
April 14, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Freed U.S. Hostage Denies Rumors,
April 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Ex-hostage Speaks Out,
May 2, 2001, Chicago Tribune, Arroyo's Police Hunt Enemies,
May 14, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Filipinos Go To Polls Today
June 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, A Mission Of Risks, Rewards, by Mark I. Pinsky,
June 5, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Troops Pursue Hostage-takers,
June 5, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Die Fighting Hostage-takers,
June 6, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage-takers, Troops Clash,
June 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Reporter Goes To Philippines,
June 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Rebels Threaten To Behead American Hostages, Robert Perez,
June 12, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Rebels Say U.S. Hostage Killed, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez,
June 13, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Fears, Prayers For Missionaries Cross 2 Worlds,
June 18, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Gain Strength In Philippines, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez,
June 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Cabinet Refuses To Accommodate Rebels,
June 25, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebel Leader Issues Warning,
June 26, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebel: More Captives To Die,
June 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, American Was Killed, Rebel Says,
June 29, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 2 New Tribes Missionaries Try To Boost Spirits Among Hostages,
August 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Separatists, Government Sign Cease-fire,
August 9, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Chief Talks Tough,
August 12, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Rescued From Guerrillas,
September 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Suspected Rebels Captured,
September 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Abu Sayyaf Guerrillas Captured,
September 25, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Could Prove Crucial To U.S. Fight, by Douglas Birch,
September 18, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary Kidnappers Have Ties To Bin Laden, by Gary Taylor,
September 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Hide In Market,
October 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Prays For Missionaries' Lives, by Gary Taylor,
October 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Traps Guerrillas, Hostages, by Gary Taylor,
October 22, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Rebels, 1 Soldier Die In Clashes,
November 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Letter, Telling Stories,
November 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 7 Win Freedom, by Robert Perez,
November 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 55 Dead In Renewed Rebellion,
November 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Fire On Guerrillas,
November 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Captive Missionary Couple Express Fear, Hope, by Gary Taylor,
December 1, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostages' Relatives Push U.S.for Rescue, by Robert Perez,
December 1, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Rebel-fighting Aid Lands,
December 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Attack Rebel Camp,
December 23, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostages To Be Freed By End Of Year, Philippines Says,
December 31, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 13 Rebels Die In Skirmish,
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January 9, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Rebels Die In Army Offensive,
January 16, 2002, Washington Post, U.S. Expands Its War On Terrorism As Troops Arrive In Philippines,
January 17, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Troops Hit Rebels, Fall Into Turncoat Ambush,
January 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Worries As U.s. Troops Join Hunt For Hostages, Robert Perez,
January 20, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Troops Set Up Camp For U.s. Trainers,
January 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionaries' Plight Is Dire, by Amy C. Rippel,
January 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S., Philippines Launch Joint Military Exercises,
February 1, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S.-missionary Sighting Reported,
February 1, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Troops Start To Train, Support Philippine Soldiers,
February 3, 2002, Washington Post, Militants In Asia Linked To Al-Qaeda, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran,
February 6, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, $2 Million Asked For Couple, by Gary Taylor,
February 11, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Kills Guerrillas Linked To Bin Laden's Terrorist Network,
February 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Military Hits Rebel Camps,
February 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Missing In Crash Of Copter, by Warren P. Strobel,
February 27, 2002, Washington Post, U.S. War On Terror Opens On New Front, Vernon Loeb, Peter Slevin,
March 2, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Problems Delay Rescue Plan For Kidnapped U.S. Couple,
March 6, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Commander: Troops In Philippines Will Not Fight,
March 8, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, High-tech Help May Lead Rescuers To Missionaries, by Tyler Marshall,
March 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Abu Sayyaf Leader Arrested,
March 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Army Clashes With Guerrillas,
March 20, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Troops Enter Battle Zone,
March 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Medics Rescue Filipinos Hurt In Battle With Muslims,
March 31, 2002, New York Times, U.S. Troops May Extend Stay, by Jane Perlez,
April 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Talks Under Way To Free Hostages, by Gary Taylor,
April 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Won't Comment On Ransom,
April 21, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Military Engineers Help Anti-terror Campaign,
April 26, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Lied On Freeing Hostages, Dad Says, by Gary Taylor,
April 29, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Offer To Discuss Hostages,
April 30, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Abu Sayyaf Denies Receiving Ransom Payment,
May 5, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Arrested In Camp Raid,
May 11, 2002, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, Report: Hostage Missionary Sick, by Alan Bjerga,
May 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Missionary May Go Free,
May 27, 2002, The Dallas Morning News, Philippine Island Gets Reprieve From Terror, by Gregg Jones,
May 30, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Offers Bounty For Abu Sayyaf, by Robert Perez,
May 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rebel Chief To Release Nurse,
June 3, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Troops Closer To Finding Kidnapped Pair, U.S. Says,
June 8, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage Ordeal Ends, by Gwyneth K. Shaw,
June 9, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, In Burnhams' New World, Joy And Grief Mingle, Jeff Kunerth, Robert Perez,
June 9, 2002, Washington Post, Philippine Leader Orders Troops To Kill Rebels, by Philip P. Pan,
June 10, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rescued Missionary Leaves Philippines, by Robert Perez,
June 11, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Joy Fills Missionary's Homecoming,
June 12, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, President Commends Troops,
June 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary's Body Arrives Home,
June 16, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionaries Know Changing Face Of Danger, by Jim Toner,
June 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Fire At U.S. Troops In Philippines,
July 4, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Anti-rebel Fight Was Team Effort,
July 16, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Ex-hostage Visits Mission, Gives Thanks, by Robert Perez,
July 19, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Would-be Bomber Arrested,
July 25, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary Meets President, Says She'll Return To Kansas, Gwyneth K. Shaw,
July 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S.: Abu Sayyaf Off Island,
August 2, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Sabaya Dead, Officials Say,
August 24, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Set Up 'Killer Punch',
September 23, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Army Kills 4 Muslim Rebel Extremists,
October 3, 2002, Los Angeles Times, Bomb Blast Kills U.S. Soldier On Philippine Street, Richard Paddock,
October 9, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Wanted Jordanian Arrested,
October 19, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Bus Bomb Kills At Least 3, Injures 23 In Manila Suburb,
October 23, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Nabs 5 Suspects,
November 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Police Say Man Planned Series Of Attacks,
December 1, 2002, New York Times, U.S. Considers Expansion Of Military Role In Southern Philippines,
December 26, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Blast Death Toll Hits 16,
December 28, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Attacks Leave 1 Dead, 6 Hurt In Southern Philippines,
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February 19, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. May Use Special Forces To Fight Philippine Rebels,
February 20, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Extremist Reported Dead From Battle Wounds,
March 1, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Is Given 90 Days To Defeat Rebels,
March 1, 2003, L.A. Times, U.S. Drops Plan To Fight Rebels In Philippines, John Hendren, Richard Paddock,
March 18, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Rebels Kill 8 In Van, Philippines Officials Say,
April 2, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Major Ground Attack Launched,
April 8, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Rebel Factions Meet In Libya, Seal Reunification Pact,
May 7, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage: Captors, Philippine Army Colluded,
July 27, 2003, L.A. Times, Rogue Troops Seize Complex In Standoff In Philippines, Richard Paddock, Sol Vanzi,
July 27, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Rogue Troops Seize Complex In Standoff In Philippines,
July 28, 2003, Los Angeles Times, Renegade Philippine Troops Surrender, by Richard C. Paddock,
October 19, 2003, Los Angeles Times, Bush Takes Fast Tour Of Philippines, by Maura Reynolds,
December 8, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Officials: Abu Sayyaf Group Leader Nabbed In Philippines,
December 30, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, American Brothers Held On Suspicion Of Terrorism Ties,
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January 18, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Renews Travel Warning About Terrorism In Philippines,
February 29, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Extremists Claim Explosion In Philippines,
March 31, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Suspect Admits To Planting TNT On Ferry, Killing 100,
March 31, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Extremists' Arrests Thwart Mass Attacks, Officials Say,
April 2, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Security Arrests 4 Turks In Terrorism Probe,
April 7, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Islamists Trained Abu Sayyaf On Bombs, Ex-hostage Says,
April 9, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Troops Kill Muslim Militant Leader, 5 Followers,
April 13, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Manhunt Heats Up After Philippine Inmates Escape,
May 11, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Presidential Voting Gets Under Way In Close Race,
May 12, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Poll Predicts Clear Victory For Philippine President,
July 11, 2004, Los Angeles Times, Militants Deny Freeing Filipino Captive In Iraq, by Carol J. Williams,
December 29, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Ex-Philippine President Says Arroyo Fears His Popularity,
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February 15, 2005, Los Angeles Times, Bombs In Philippines Kill 9, Injure Scores, Richard Paddock, Al Jacinto,
August 28, 2005, Orlando Sentinel, Ferry blast injures at least 30 in southern Philippines,

February 25, 2006, Los Angeles Times, Filipinos protest crackdown, by Richard C. Paddock,
February 28, 2006, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines files charges in attempted rebellion,

January 7, 2007, Orlando Sentinel, Military says 6 Abu Sayyaf rebels killed in Philippines,
July 12, 2007, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Philippine marines killed in clash with Muslim rebels, [Dead Link]

August 12, 2008, Orlando Sentinel,Troops retake 2 villages from rebels,

August 13, 2009, Orlando Sentinel, Military, extremists clash,
September 30, 2009, Orlando Sentinel, Bomb kills 2 GIs,

June 20, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 'Missing' Jordanian journalist, TV crew OK, say authorities, by Julie Alipala
June 21, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Editorial: Double speak,

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September 6, 1986, Washington Post, Aquino Talks With Rebel Leader She Warns She Will Not Allow Secession From Philippines,

MANILA — President Corazon Aquino Friday flew to a stronghold of the Philippines' 14-year-old Moslem rebel movement to ''talk peace'' with a Moslem guerrilla leader. At the same time, she warned that no part of the country would be allowed to secede under her administration.

Ignoring advice from supporters that the trip was both politically and physically risky, Aquino conferred for about an hour on the southern Philippine island of Jolo with Nur Misuari, 45, the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front. The MNLF fought a secessionist war in the 1970s in an effort to carve an independent state out of the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, where most of the Philippines' estimated 5 million Moslems live.

After flying from Manila aboard a Philippine air force plane, Aquino, the first president to visit Jolo since independence 40 years ago, told military officers at an arrival ceremony that ''no part or portion of the Philippines shall secede.'' She added, ''Mindanao belongs to all Filipinos, whether Christian or Moslem. It belongs to the republic, to our heroes who fought and died for the republic.''

A ''joint statement'' issued later in Manila said Aquino and Misuari met ''to talk peace.'' It said they ''agreed to support the continued cessation of hostilities'' and hold ''substantive negotiations'' in the future under the auspices of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The statement said the meeting ''ended on a note of sincerity and hope.''

However, observers present at the talks said Aquino discussed no major issues, such as Moslem autonomy or other MNLF demands, insisting instead on a new cease-fire agreement to replace one already technically in effect. They said the exercise produced no significant progress on resolving Moslem issues. Misuari returned to the Philippines earlier this week from Saudi Arabia, where he had been living in exile, to attend a ''Bangsa Moro Congress'' on Jolo. Bangsa Moro Moro Nation is the name that Moslem secessionists have given to their proposed independent state.

The meeting between Aquino and Misuari was held in a Roman Catholic convent tightly secured by government troops and several thousand heavily armed Moslem rebels of the MNLF.

Misuari, a soft-spoken former political science professor at the University of the Philippines who was aligned with Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison during their student days, told supporters before the meeting that "we are giving peace a chance."
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January 5, 1987, United Press International, Philippine Moslems Agree To Pact,

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Government negotiators and a Moslem rebel leader said Sunday they had forged accords that are designed to end a 14-year war for Moslem self-rule in the southern Philippines.

Government negotiators said the agreements, allowing a vote on possible autonomy rather than independence for the nation's 3 million Moslems, are a ''breakthrough.'' The Moslem leader said peace ''would not be far off.''

While success was reported in President Corazon Aquino's peace initiatives with the Moslems, communist negotiators issued their most pessimistic assessment so far of prospects for a lasting settlement to the communist rebellion.

Communist negotiator Antonio Zumel of the National Democratic Front accused Aquino Sunday of attempting to cure a "cancer with aspirin" and denounced her rebel rehabilitation program as a strategy to "divide and subvert."

Zumel told a news conference hostilities may resume at the end of a 60-day cease-fire on Feb. 7 unless substantial progress is made soon in peace talks. On the Moslem agreement, Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moslem Moro National Liberation Front, said in a telephone interview from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he was willing "for the sake of peace" to drop his longstanding demand for Moslem independence and accept autonomy within "democratic processes."

The agreement is expected to lead to the nation's Moslems voting with their 15 million Christian neighbors in the strife-torn south on whether to declare autonomy from Manila and establish their own educational system, local laws and judiciary. The army, taxation and foreign policy would remain under control of the national government, officials of the government said.

In the 1970s, when deposed President Ferdinand Marcos was in power, Misuari led a bloody war for Moslem independence in the south. Some 60,000 died.

"Now we believe that, barring unforeseen circumstances, peace would not be far off," said Misuari.

Agapito Aquino, a negotiator and the president's brother-in-law, said in a telephone interview from Jeddah the MNLF agreed to autonomy within the framework of the 1986 constitution, which is expected to be ratified in a Feb. 2 plebiscite.

The charter calls on a U.S.-style Congress to enact legislation providing for autonomous regions in the south. Agapito Aquino said it would cover 21 of the country's 73 provinces on five islands.

The autonomous agreements, however, are subject to ratification on a province-by-province basis. Aquino said he doubts that the Christian majority population in 17 of the provinces will agree to autonomy. But Misuari disagreed, saying the Christian majority is "tired of being cruelly exploited" by the remainder of the country.
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November 16, 1989, Orlando Sentinel, Suspected Muslim rebels knocked out power lines,

REBEL ATTACKS. Suspected Muslim rebels knocked out power lines, blocked roads and burned polling booths Wednesday in a show of force before Sunday's plebiscite on the future of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. No casualties were reported in the attacks. Christians and Muslims are to vote on limited autonomy for 13 provinces. END
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April 1, 1991, Orlando Sentinel, Kidnappers Set Ransom, Threaten To Kill A Priest,

COTABATO, PHILIPPINES — Kidnappers of a French priest in the southern Philippines have demanded a $355,000 ransom for his release and warned they will kill him if the military launches a rescue operation, church officials said Sunday. Bishop Philip Smith said the gunmen wrote in a ransom letter that Father Yves Caroff, 66, ''will lose his head'' if church officials called in the military to help recover the missionary. Smith, bishop of the Cotabato area on southern Mindanao Island where Caroff was kidnapped Wednesday, said he had asked the local military to hold off any action. Caroff has been a parish priest in the Cotabato area for about 10 years. Local officials blamed recent kidnappings - including Caroff's - on a criminal syndicate said to consist of former Muslim separatist rebels, soldiers and police officers. END
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November 18, 1992, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino To Howard Stern: Those Are Fighting Words,

A Filipino broadcaster challenged American shock jock Howard Stern Tuesday to a duel over alleged anti-Filipino remarks Stern made in September.

Rene Santa Cruz made the challenge over radio station DZXL in Manila, Philippines. His employer, Radio Mindanao Network, agreed to pay his expenses to the duel site.

The Filipino-American Citizens group is suing Stern for $65 million in a New York court, claiming Stern insulted ''the entire Filipino race'' with his alleged remarks.

"I think they eat their young over there," Stern allegedly said, according to court documents. "The Philippines is a country where fathers sell their daughters for sex."
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December 14, 1992, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Attack Village, Kill 40 Filipinos,

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Suspected Muslim renegades massacred about 40 people in a remote village in the southern Philippines, the state-run news agency reported today. The Philippines News Agency, quoting military reports, said the killings began about 4 p.m. (3 a.m. EST) Sunday, when about 20 armed men entered the village of Sinaguran, about 500 miles south of Manila. According to the report, the gunmen lined up the villagers, shot some and stabbed others. It said at least four survivors were taken to a hospital in nearby Zamboanga City. It did not give a motive for the massacre. The military said the gunmen were believed to be from the Moro National Liberation Front, the largest of three Muslim groups which has struggled for two decades to establish an Islamic state in the south. The insurgency has waned since the late 1970s. END
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December 31, 1992, Washington Post, Filipino Rebels Free Missionary Seized Oct. 22,

Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines have freed an American missionary after nearly 10 weeks of captivity - in exchange for rice, two pairs of sunglasses, a watch and a radio, authorities said Wednesday. Gerald Fraszczak, 55, a Roman Catholic missionary from Polanski, Wis., was freed unharmed Tuesday on the island of Basilan after his captors brought him out of their jungle hideout by water buffalo and motorcycle to the town of Tipo-Tipo, about 28 miles from where he was kidnapped on Oct. 22. He was flown Wednesday to Manila and was taken to a hospital for tests and observation.

Appearing haggard and frail, Fraszczak told reporters he was ''prepared to die'' in captivity because he knew that his captors' demands for a $200,000 ransom would not be met. He said that aside from threats to kill him if the ransom was not paid, he was treated well.

Chief negotiator Joey Tugung said that, instead of money, he gave the kidnappers several sacks of rice and other gifts, including his watch and a small radio, when Fraszczak was freed.

Philippine military officers described the kidnappers as renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front who had turned to banditry. The group, which began a guerrilla war in the 1970s with the aim of establishing an independent state in the southern Philippines, has become fractured and largely inactive in recent years.

Tugung said Fraszczak was freed after the kidnappers were convinced that the Catholic Church and the U.S. Embassy would not bargain further.

The kidnapping was one of the more publicized cases in what appears to have become a growth industry in the Philippines. Most victims of kidnappings for ransom have been wealthy businessmen - usually of Chinese origin - in Manila.
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February 14, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Warns Its Travelers Of Danger In Afghanistan,

The State Department Saturday warned U.S. citizens against travel in Afghanistan, saying that Westerners there are vulnerable to robbery, kidnapping and hostage-taking for political and criminal purposes. Shiite Muslim rebels and government troops have been fighting near the capital of Kabul for the past 26 days. END
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February 28, 1993, Orlando Sentinel, Airport In The Philippines Bombed,

A bomb exploded today at the airport in the southern city of Zamboanga, injuring 15 people, police said. The blast at the departure area occurred about 8 a.m. (7 p.m. Saturday EST) shortly after a flight to Manila had left, police said. The explosion shattered windows. No group claimed responsibility, but police speculated that it was the work of Muslim extremists who have been fighting government forces on the nearby island of Basilan. Military operations were launched on Basilan after Muslim rebels killed 25 government soldiers in an ambush on Feb. 9. END
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June 10, 1994, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Kidnappers Seek Ransom For 21 Hostages,

Muslim extremists who shot dead 15 kidnapped Christians in the southern Philippines demanded a $925 ransom Thursday for each of the 21 hostages they still hold. They have threatened to kill the hostages if the ransom is not paid within three days, officials said. The rebels are members of the Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for a wave of kidnappings and bombings in the past two years, the officials said. The rebel group is seeking Muslim autonomy in the southern region. END

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April 8, 1995, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Troops Chasing Muslim Gunmen In Hills,

Government troops backed by helicopter gunships battled Muslim gunmen Friday in the hills where they fled after ravaging this southern Philippine town and killing dozens of its residents. Military spokesmen said at least 20 people were killed Friday, including five civilians taken hostage by the extremist Abu Sayyaf group. One hostage who escaped said he was forced to dig graves for five slain gunmen who may not have been included in the military death toll. Abu Sayyaf gunmen were blamed for Tuesday's attack on this mostly Roman Catholic town of about 50,000 people located about 485 miles south of Manila. END
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April 10, 1995, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Military Says 19 Muslim Extremists Dead,

SIOCON, PHILIPPINES — Naval gunboats patrolled shorelines and helicopter-borne infantry sealed mountain routes Sunday, part of a military crackdown on Muslim extremists who sacked a town last week. The armed forces' Southern Command said 19 gunmen from the Islamic separatist group Abu Sayyaf had been killed since Tuesday, when the group raided Ipil, a Christian town 480 miles south of Manila. Government troops chased 200 gunmen into rugged mountains after they attacked Ipil, killing 53 people. Four soldiers and five civilians taken hostage by the gunmen also have been killed, the military said. END
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August 20, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine, Rebel Leaders Announce Peace Settlement,

MALABANG, PHILIPPINES — In their first meeting in 10 years, the Philippine president and a rebel leader hugged Monday and announced a settlement of a 26-year Muslim rebellion in the southern Philippines. "We have agreed to end the war and restore peace," rebel leader Nur Misuari said after meeting President Fidel Ramos. An accord in the conflict that has killed an estimated 150,000 people was to be signed in Manila on Sept. 2. END
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August 31, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Muslims Celebrate After Peace Pact Is Signed,

MARAWI, PHILIPPINES — Tens of thousands of Muslims celebrated with prayer rallies in the southern Philippines Friday after rebel and government leaders initialed a peace pact to end 26 years of civil war. The agreement was initialed Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is to be signed in Manila on Monday by President Fidel Ramos and Nur Misuari, chief of the Moro National Liberation Front. As part of the agreement, the Muslim rebel fighters will be integrated into the Philippine armed forces and the regional police force. END
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September 10, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Rebels Elect Leader In 'Boringly Peaceful' Vote,

Thousands of Muslim rebels swapped their guns for ballots Monday and voted to elect their chief as regional governor in what officials called ''boringly peaceful'' elections in the southern Philippines. Officials reported no major violence in any of the four Muslim provinces comprising a semi-autonomous Muslim region that Nur Misuari is to rule for the next three years. END
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November 14, 1996, Orlando Sentinel, Supplies Low For Evacuees Of Village In Philippines,

Food and medicine are running out for 4,000 villagers forced to flee fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels on a southern island, local officials said Wednesday. Many of the evacuees from Bangkung village on Basilan Island suffer from the flu and intestinal problems, said village chief Akmad Tahir. Villagers, he said, are requesting a temporary cease-fire to allow supplies into other villages where they have fled. END
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April 13, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Campaigning In Algeria Ends In Massacre Of 10,

ALGIERS, Algeria - Muslim rebels slashed the throats of 10 civilians Monday in western Algeria, government security forces said. The massacre took place near Mellah area in Mascara province, 187 miles west of Algiers. It coincided with the end of a three-week campaign for Thursday's presidential election.
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August 29, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Girl's Abduction Ignites Bloodshed In Philippines,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Government soldiers clashed repeatedly with Muslim rebels after the rebels allegedly abducted a 4-year-old girl, and at least 16 people have died in the fighting, the military said Saturday. The dead included two soldiers and the rest were rebels, the military said. Troops tried Saturday to overrun a camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines province of Basilan, 550 miles south of Manila. Meanwhile, helicopter gunships and army artillery pounded an area of the province's hinterlands.
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September 12, 1999, Orlando Sentinel, Movie Audience Members Injured By Grenade Blast,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Dozens of people were injured, one critically, when a grenade blasted through the projector room of a theater showing a soft-porn movie in a Philippines province, the military said Saturday. An unidentified assailant hurled the grenade into the Acme Theater late Friday in the town of Isabela, capital of the Muslim-dominated province of Basilan, said Maj. Salih Indanan, military spokesman. No one claimed responsibility, but the police and military suspect the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group.
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May 7, 2000, Washington Post, Filipino Troops Find Headless Bodies,

The Corpses Belonged To Hostages Captured By Islamic Rebels.

MANILA, Philippines - Military officials said Saturday that they have found the headless bodies of two more Filipino hostages killed by Islamic separatist guerrillas on a small island in the southern Philippines. The discovery came as bombs thought to have been planted on two buses by another rebel group killed six people and wounded 35 on the larger island of Mindanao, which is also beset by a Muslim separatist movement.

The unearthing of two beheaded male corpses in shallow graves on Basilan island suggests that the tough-talking Abu Sayyaf rebels are living up to their violent promises and could increase pressure on the Philippine government to scale back its military pressure on the group. The guerrillas had vowed to behead two captives because they said they were upset that the government was ignoring their demands.

The two dead men, both thought to be teachers, were among about 50 people taken hostage from two schools in March. The rebels subsequently released about 20 of them, and others were rescued last week after soldiers attacked the group.

Another group of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on nearby Jolo island are holding 21 people captured from a Malaysian diving resort on Easter Sunday. That group also had threatened to behead two of its captives if the military does not withdraw from the area.
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May 14, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Missing Journalists Return Safely In The Philippines,

JOLO, Philippines - Eight of 12 foreign journalists who disappeared on a Philippine island where Muslim rebels are holding foreign hostages have returned safely, and the four others may come back today, a local official said. Twelve journalists, including 11 foreigners, were declared missing Saturday on Jolo island. Also Saturday, the rebels refused to free an ailing German woman among 21 hostages. Elsewhere, the main Muslim separatist group seized 65 people hostage in a village raid, the army said. END
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May 16, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Leader OKs Talks To Free Hostages,

JOLO, Philippines - President Joseph Estrada on Monday approved the start of talks to free 21 hostages held by Islamic militants, including the release of an ailing German woman. The hostages - Westerners and Asians - have been held for three weeks by the Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines, where the militants seek an Islamic state. The rebel leadership made demands for money and imposition of Islamic law. END
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May 22, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Child Hostages Rescued From Rebels In Philippines,

JOLO, Philippines - Philippine soldiers rescued two child hostages Sunday in a clash with Muslim rebels who had held the children and seven others since March 20. One soldier and several rebels were injured in the one-hour battle on the southern Philippine island of Basilan, the military said. The remaining seven hostages - five students and two female teachers - were still thought to be held by the rebels, said Ernesto de Guzman, the Philippine military's Southern Command chief of staff. The two grade-school children were among a group of about 50 people seized by the Abu Sayyaf rebels. Six have been killed, and most of the rest were released or rescued in the intervening weeks. END
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May 30, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, German Report: Bin Laden Is Backing Filipino Rebels,

BERLIN - Muslim separatists who have held 21 mostly foreign hostages for 37 days in the Philippines are being supported by the Saudi guerrilla suspect Osama bin Laden, German television reported Monday. The leader of the Abu Sayyaf - Father of the Sword - guerrillas, Galib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, told a reporter from ZDF television that the group was backed by the Saudi exile bin Laden. Bin Laden is accused of masterminding the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 200 people. END
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June 11, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels In Philippines Move Some Hostages,

JOLO, Philippines -- Muslim rebels, fearing a military raid, have moved 10 Caucasian hostages to a new hiding place in the southern Philippine jungle, negotiators said Saturday. The Abu Sayyaf rebels, who have been holding 21 mostly foreign hostages, kept the 11 captives from Malaysia and the Philippines at the previous jungle camp, where the government recently built a wooden shed for the hostages' protection, said Abdul Rajab Azzarouq, a Libyan envoy who is serving as a government negotiator. END
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June 15, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels' Demand Rejected In Hostage Negotiations,

MANILA -- The Philippines on Wednesday rejected a Muslim rebel demand to replace its chief negotiator in talks on the release of 21 mostly foreign hostages, and laid down conditions for a cease-fire in its unruly south. The presidential palace said the government's negotiating team was expected to fly back to the southern island of Jolo on Friday to resume talks with the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who have held the hostages for nearly two months. END
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August 8, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Millions In Ransom Paid To Rebels In Philippines,

MANILA, Philippines -- Muslim rebels who kidnapped Westerners and Asians have received $5.5 million in ransom payments, military chief Angelo Reyes said Monday. Reyes inadvertently disclosed the ransom in a Cabinet meeting led by President Joseph Estrada, who immediately cut the session short because of the presence of journalists. "We can talk about that privately; not in this forum," Estrada said. The Philippines has a no-ransom policy, and officials have never publicly confirmed that large amounts have been paid to Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. END
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August 23, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Libya To Pay $1 Million Per Philippine Hostage,

MANILA, Philippines -- Libya has agreed to pay $1 million for each of the 12 foreign hostages held by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, clearing the way for their release fairly soon, sources close to the negotiations said Tuesday. The hostages were to have been freed last weekend, but the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf guerrillas held off the release after Libya haggled to lower the ransom to $700,000 per captive. END
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September 22, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, Military Tries To Free Hostage,

JOLO, Philippines -- Philippine soldiers located the area on a remote island where Muslim rebels were thought to be holding an American hostage and moved in on the site Thursday, a presidential spokesman said. Jeffrey Schilling, from Oakland, Calif., was among 19 hostages the Abu Sayyaf held on the run across Jolo last weekend after the military began a rescue mission. END
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February 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Timeline,

1991 February: U.S.-led coalition forces Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. Baghdad accepts cease-fire two days later. April: United States, France, Britain declare 19,000-square-mile area of northern Iraq "safe haven" for Kurds and impose "no-fly" zone north of 36th parallel. 1992 August: United States, backed by Britain and France, declares no-fly zone over southern Iraq to protect Shiite Muslim rebels. 1993 January: After Baghdad refuses to remove missiles that United States says it has moved into southern Iraq, allied warplanes and warships attack missile sites and a nuclear facility near Baghdad.
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April 6, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Call Off Execution,

MANILA, Philippines -- In the face of a last-ditch military offensive, Muslim rebels backed off on their threat to kill an American hostage Thursday and send his head to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a birthday present. Just minutes before the threatened execution, Carol Schilling was hooked up on live radio with the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group that has held her 25-year-old son, Jeffrey, since last August.
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April 11, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Surrender Or Die, Rebels Told,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Saying there will be no letup in a military operation, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday told Muslim rebels who are holding an American hostage to surrender or die. "I am not a happy warrior. But if this is what the situation calls for to defend the lives of our people and to pursue peace and order, so be it," she said.
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April 14, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Freed U.s. Hostage Denies Rumors,

MANILA, Philippines -- A California man, rescued barefoot and mosquito-bitten from Muslim rebels who threatened to behead him, denied Friday that he conspired with the guerrillas and said he slipped from his chains as troops fired on his captors. Jeffrey Schilling, 25, of Oakland told reporters he lost 100 pounds in eight months as a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf rebels. He flew Friday to Manila to meet generals and U.S. Embassy officials. Schilling said he wanted to "go back to the U.S. and be with my family."
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April 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Ex-hostage Speaks Out,

MANILA, Philippines -- An American rescued by the Philippines military after nearly eight months in Muslim rebel captivity left for home Sunday, saying he wants the guerrillas destroyed.

Jeffrey Schilling, 25, of Oakland, Calif., casually walked into Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his American security escorts and boarded a Continental Micronesia flight to Guam.
He ignored reporters' questions before passing through security, then turned back and gave a brief statement thanking President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and defense chief Angelo Reyes for working to liberate him from his Abu Sayyaf rebel captors.

"I'd like them to continue the efforts against the Abu Sayyaf," Schilling said. "There are groups which can and will be destroyed as long as the operations continue."

Army troops found Schilling barefoot and covered with mosquito bites when they rescued him Thursday on southern Jolo Island, where he had been held in the jungle since August.
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June 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, A Mission Of Risks, Rewards, by Mark I. Pinsky, Sentinel Staff Writer,

Fired by her faith, Kendra Woodill already has traveled to North Carolina and Virginia, helping rebuild roofs for indigent seniors. She went to a Seneca reservation in upstate New York, where she performed Christian songs and dances. And, this summer the 18-year-old Winter Park High School valedictorian will journey to Canada to teach sailing to disabled children. It's the latest stop on a voyage to make missions her life's work. "The happiest times of my life are when I'm sharing Jesus," Woodill says.
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June 5, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Troops Pursue Hostage-takers

LAMITAN, Philippines -- After boldly seizing a hospital, Muslim rebels resumed their cat-and-mouse game in the jungle Monday with soldiers eager to make up for letting the militants slip past them twice with hostages in tow. Troops were sent to Basilan island in the southeast to reinforce the five battalions pursuing an estimated 100 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who have taken about 20 people hostage, including three Americans.
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June 5, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Die Fighting Hostage-takers

ISABELA, Philippines -- Two soldiers were killed when Muslim rebels holding an estimated 20 hostages, including three Americans, clashed with pursuing troops today, a military official said. Col. Horacio Lapinit described it as a "fierce firefight" between the military and Abu Sayyaf forces holding the hostages. The fighting was taking place on the slopes of 2000-foot Mount Sinangcapan on eastern Basilan island.

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June 6, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage-takers, Troops Clash

ISABELA, Philippines -- Muslim rebels reportedly used tourists and nurses as human shields Tuesday to fend off troops in the southern Philippines. The country's president, meanwhile, said she had lost patience with the "pests" and was considering martial law on the small island where the 9-day-old chase was unfolding. The army already has 3,000 troops on Basilan island and was dispatching reinforcements.
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June 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Reporter Goes To Philippines

Sentinel reporter Pedro Ruz Gutierrez is en route to the Philippines to report on the ongoing hostage crisis and the two members of the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission who have been held captive since May 27 by the Abu Sayyaf rebels. Reports by Ruz Gutierrez, who in the past year has covered stories from Colombia and El Salvador, will begin next week in the Orlando Sentinel.

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June 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Rebels Threaten To Behead American Hostages, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

A renewed call for prayers rang out from New Tribes Mission in Sanford on Thursday as Muslim rebels in the Philippines threatened to behead two of the group's missionaries and another American hostage on Sunday unless the Philippine government appoints two Malaysian negotiators to mediate their release.

Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have worked in the Philippines for New Tribes since 1986, were among 20 hostages the Abu Sayyaf seized May 27 as the couple from Wichita, Kan., vacationed at a resort on Palawan Island.

But the Philippine government initially rejected the guerillas' demand, saying attacks on the guerillas would continue and that foreign mediators would complicate matters.

A New Tribes official, speaking from the group's world headquarters in Sanford, said there is growing fear that the rebel deadline and hard-line government stance could lead to tragedy for the hostages.

"There is a heightened concern that things may not end in a satisfying way," said Scott Ross, a New Tribes spokesman.

Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, said he would "chop the heads of the Americans in 72 hours" if his choice of negotiators were not included in talks with the government. Sabaya telephoned Radio Mindanao Network from a hideout with the threat to behead the Burnhams and Californian Guillermo Sobero.

Hours earlier, Sabaya had said he would kill the three at noon Thursday unless the government included former Malaysian lawmaker Sarno Sairin and merchant Yusof Hamdan in talks. Both negotiated last year when the Abu Sayyaf released foreign hostages for reported millions of dollars in ransom.

Sabaya announced the extension after the deadline.

New Tribes officials have stressed that point to Burnham family members, Ross said.

"All we can do is encourage family members to see things in context," he said. "This group has in the past set deadlines and let them go by. But every situation is different."

New Tribes is working with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines to encourage starting some kind of dialogue with the rebels, Ross said. He said he was not sure whether government officials have ruled out allowing one of the negotiators suggested by the rebels to accompany a Filipino negotiator or whether such an arrangement would be acceptable to the rebels.

Since the Abu Sayyaf captured the hostages, nine have escaped amid fighting with Philippine soldiers. Two more were found hacked to death Sunday. One was beheaded.

Sabaya has made similar threats toward foreign hostages in the past but has never delivered on them.
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June 12, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Rebels Say U.S. Hostage Killed, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Sentinel Staff Writer, Tuesday,

Beheading Report Unconfirmed; Man Was Held With Missionaries

MANILA, Philippines -- Muslim extremists claimed this morning that they had beheaded one of three Americans held hostage for the past two weeks, news that left missionaries praying for an end to the crisis. "It moves us over a threshold that we prayed we would never go over," said Guy Sier, international crisis coordinator for Sanford-based New Tribes Mission.

Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya told Radio Mindanao that he had beheaded Californian Guillermo Sobero, 40, whom the Abu Sayyaf captured May 27 when they stormed a resort on the Philippine island of Palawan.

Also captured that day were Martin and Gracia Burnham, New Tribes missionaries who have lived here since 1986.

"We chopped the head off of Guillermo Sobero," Sabaya said early this morning in the Philippines, which has a 12-hour time difference with Florida. "They better hurry the rescue, otherwise there will be no hostages left."

Sabaya said the beheading happened near the town of Tuburan and told the military: "Find his body."

Philippine military officials could not immediately confirm Sabaya's claim. That was little comfort to New Tribes officials in the Philippines, who have worked nearly around the clock on the crisis.

"At the moment, it's just a claim, but it's one we're taking seriously," said Sier, who normally works out of the Sanford headquarters but was dispatched to the Philippines after the Burnhams were taken hostage.

"The feeling is that this isn't the sort of claim [the group] would make without having done it."

There was no information today on the whereabouts or the condition of the Burnhams, who hail from Wichita, Kan., and who had traveled to Palawan Island to celebrate their anniversary.

While the Abu Sayyaf had threatened for several days to behead one of the three Americans, the news that the group was claiming it had followed through on the threat stunned mission officials.

They learned about it when they awoke and began their daily routine of trolling the Internet for the latest information.

On the other side of the world, officials in Sanford, the mission's headquarters, were trying to reach their counterparts in the Philipines late Monday, spokesman Scott Ross said. Several of the New Tribes officials in the Philipines were at the U.S. Embassy trying to gather information, he said.

New Tribes officials had thought the Abu Sayyaf was making an idle threat, presuming that the group would hold the Americans alive as bargaining chips.

"That he would kill one of the Americans, we thought [Sabaya] was smarter than that," Sier said. "We thought he realized the value of holding the Americans.

"We're truly shocked by this report, and it causes us to appeal all the more for sanity and humanity in this affair."

Sabaya had threatened to execute one of the Americans at noon Monday, but delayed it when the Philippine government agreed to one of his demands, that a Malaysian negotiator be brought in to help settle the crisis.

The rebels had seized hostages last year and had executed Filipinos, but this was the first time they had claimed to have killed a foreigner.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan urged caution. "We have to verify this information and confirm, because you know in the past Sabaya has said things like this and didn't mean it," Adan said.

Sabaya said the rebels killed what he called the "Spanish-American" as "a gift" to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for Tuesday's Independence Day. The hostage Sobero is a native of Peru. Sabaya had said Monday that he would check with the Malaysian government to confirm that former Malaysian Sen. Sairin Karno could join the negotiating team if his government approved. Sabaya also had demanded that the government call off the thousands of troops combing the island of Basilan for him and his men.
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June 18, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Gain Strength In Philippines, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

MANILA, Philippines -- When Muslim extremism gave birth to the Abu Sayyaf 10 years ago, it was little more than a ragtag band of bandits committing murders, kidnappings and a string of petty crimes across the islands that dot the southern Philippines. Today the group is at the center of an international standoff, successfully eluding this nation's military, taunting the government and threatening a holy war that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo says could be a "long-drawn and bloody battle."
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June 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Cabinet Refuses To Accommodate Rebels

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The Philippine Cabinet on Tuesday rejected a condition for the release of captives held by Muslim militants, saying that appointing a top official to negotiate with the hostage-takers would give them the prestige and publicity they seek. The leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, Abu Sabaya, said Monday that he might release two of the two dozen hostages his group holds in the southern Philippines if the government appoints Justice Secretary Hernando Perez to mediate and the military called off its hunt.
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June 26, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebel: More Captives To Die

MANILA, Philippines -- A Muslim rebel leader holding dozens of hostages threatened Monday to kill more of his captives, pointing in particular to the Americans, and warned his insurgency would spread across Southeast Asia. Abu Sabaya demanded that the Philippine government bring in three negotiators involved in mediating the end to another hostage crisis last year by his Abu Sayyaf group, reportedly for millions of dollars in ransoms.
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June 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, American Was Killed, Rebel Says

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The leader of a Philippine rebel group responded Tuesday to an emotional appeal by the sister of one of the group's hostages with this hopeless message: Your brother is dead. Speaking on Radio Mindanao Network on Monday, Ana Sobero made a public plea to the Abu Sayyaf to let her brother, Guillermo of Corona, Calif., speak to his family and relieve their suffering.
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June 29, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 2 New Tribes Missionaries Try To Boost Spirits Among Hostages,

After a month of captivity in the jungles of the Philippines, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham have emerged as a strong force helping their fellow hostages cope with the crisis.

Filipinos who have escaped or been released by Muslim extremists say the Burnhams, who work for Sanford-based New Tribes Mission, are leading daily prayers and keeping fellow hostages sane by talking about things such as Gracia Burnham's recipe for apple pie.

Martin Burnham suffers from superficial shrapnel wounds he received in a June 3 firefight between the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and the Philippine military. He and his wife also are battling malaria.

Their roles have emerged in poignant detail in recent days, a month after the Abu Sayyaf took the Burnhams, another American and as many as 20 Filipinos hostage in a raid at a beach resort May 27.

Earlier this week, the terrorists -- who have already decapitated at least four Filipinos and claimed to have beheaded Guillermo Sobero, 40, of California -- threatened anew to behead the Burnhams and other captives if the government doesn't let up on its pursuit or assign negotiators of their choosing.

INSPIRATIONAL SING-ALONG

Despite the threats, reports from former hostages about the Burnhams are encouraging.

Francis Ganzon, a 50-year-old former government undersecretary released by the rebels June 13, told New Tribes representatives in Manila that the couple's faith was sustaining them and the other hostages.

"When the rest of us are praying, `Lord, get us out of here,' Martin is praying, `Thank you, Lord,' " Ganzon told New Tribes missionaries.

Ganzon said Martin Burnham, 41, also leads the group in singing inspirational songs.

Because of the Burnhams' malaria and Martin's wounds, New Tribes officials have forwarded medicine as well as photos and letters from their families to the U.S. Embassy in Manila for delivery to the International Red Cross.

Guy Sier, the crisis manager dispatched by New Tribes to the Philippines, said the hope is that the Red Cross may eventually reach some of the others still held.

Sier said female hostages released by the rebels have said that Gracia Burnham, now 42, is diverting her fellow captives by reminiscing about her favorite dishes.

"One had said she had been going through a recipe of apple pie . . . and the latest was that she knew how to make pizza from scratch," Sier said. "These are things [Gracia] does to keep their minds active."

Oreta and Paul Burnham, Martin Burnham's parents, who have also served as missionaries in the Philippines, said they have been pleasantly surprised by donations and acts of kindness by friends, neighbors and strangers. A Washington, D.C., businessman has offered them free long-distance service to cover the costs of their regular calls to the Philippines.

Bags of groceries, free meals and gift certificates arrive daily at their Rose Hill, Kan., doorstep. Martin and Gracia Burnham's children are staying with them during the crisis.

"It's been unbelievable how kind everyone is," Oreta Burnham told The Wichita Eagle.

As the Burnhams' families struggle through the endless days of waiting, life has also changed for the more than 200 New Tribes Mission members who work with the couple in the Philippines.

"We've tried to brace our people for a long situation," Sier said by telephone from Manila. "We've told them that this isn't going to be resolved soon, although we pray that that isn't the case."

The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern Philippines; officials call the group a gang of bandits trying to make money through kidnappings. "Everyone is still continuing to pray as hard as they have been," said Scott Ross, the New Tribes legal counsel. "More and more people are calling; more Christians are dropping us e-mail."

Prayers are being circulated on the Internet, and followers maintain a daily Yahoo! bulletin for New Tribes members, friends and donors. Some have likened the Burnhams to Christian "heroes" who are living out their faith amid constant danger.

'GOD'S IN CONTROL'

Ross, who this week is visiting congregations in Idaho that support the mission, said that even people there know of the Burnhams. They pray for the couple -- as well as for the three New Tribes missionaries still missing after being kidnapped in 1993 along the Panama-Colombia border, he said.

In the Philippines, Sier said missionaries are constantly reminded of the abductions by the local TV news flashes or newspaper headlines. "We're more and more concerned," Sier said. "Yet at the same time, we sense that God's in control and that his work is being done through Martin and Gracia Burnham."
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August 8, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Separatists, Government Sign Cease-fire

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia -- The Philippine government and Muslim separatist rebels signed a cease-fire Tuesday, a major step toward ending decades of fighting in the southern Philippines. The agreement leaves just one Muslim group still fighting for independence from the largely Roman Catholic country -- the extremist Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang, which is holding dozens of hostages, at least two of them Sanford-based American missionaries.
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August 9, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Chief Talks Tough

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed Wednesday to pursue a "final solution" against the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang, a day after her government signed a cease-fire with a larger Muslim separatist group. The accord reached with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaves the smaller Abu Sayyaf as the only armed rebel group still challenging the government for control of the Muslim-dominated south.
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August 12, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Rescued From Guerrillas

MANILA, Philippines -- Soldiers have rescued three men seized in June by Muslim extremists on the southern island of Basilan, the Philippine military said Saturday. The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas still hold about 18 other hostages, including two Sanford-based missionaries, in the area 550 miles south of Manila. The three men were rescued late Friday in a village of Lantawan town. END
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September 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Suspected Rebels Captured,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Government troops have captured eight suspected members of an extremist group holding 18 people hostage, including an American couple, the military said Saturday. The soldiers, who have been pursuing the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas for more than three months, came upon a hastily abandoned rebel camp Thursday in remote Tuburan on Basilan island, army commander Col. Hermogenes Esperon said. Two suspected guerrillas were cornered in an abandoned hut, and five others were captured in a nearby house, he said. There was no word, however, on whether there was any sign of the hostages. END

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September 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Abu Sayyaf Guerrillas Captured,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Government troops in the Philippines have captured three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, including an officer in charge of the Muslim separatist group's communications, military officials said Sunday. In addition to holding hostages, including Americans, the Abu Sayyaf has links to exiled Saudi millionaire and terrorist Osama bin Laden, the military has said.
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September 25, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Could Prove Crucial To U.S. Fight, by Douglas Birch, Foreign correspondent,

MOSCOW -- The success of American military action in Afghanistan could hinge on aid from a small, rebel Afghan army that just two weeks ago seemed on the verge of collapse. The Northern Alliance, which includes the remnants of the forces defeated by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in the mid-1990s, controls about 5 percent of the country, and its five-year war against the Taliban had ground to a halt earlier this month. Even worse, its charismatic military leader, Ahmed Shah Massood, died this month of wounds inflicted by suicide bombers.
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NOT DIIGO-ED YET
September 18, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary Kidnappers Have Ties To Bin Laden, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

SANFORD -- Fears increased Monday at New Tribes Mission after officials learned that rebels who kidnapped two of their missionaries have links to terrorist Osama bin Laden. Jimmy Theng, one of three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas captured by the Philippine military Saturday on the southern island of Basilan, admitted the ties to bin Laden during an interrogation. "Significantly, he revealed that the Abu Sayyaf group is receiving financial support from Osama bin Laden," said a statement from the military.
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September 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Hide In Market,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- At least 10 people were killed in a clash early today between soldiers and former Muslim separatist rebels, who then holed up in a market as the military prepared for an assault. All those killed were civilians caught in the cross-fire. Up to 70 gunmen were thought to be in the market. Some 150 soldiers, backed by several armored personnel carriers, were massed outside. More than 100 families were evacuated from the area. END
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October 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Prays For Missionaries' Lives, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

SANFORD -- More than four months after they were kidnapped from a Philippines resort, two missionaries affiliated with the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission are suddenly pawns in a life-and-death struggle between extremist rebels and the Philippine military. The Abu Sayyaf rebels, who have been linked to terrorist Osama bin Laden, have threatened to behead Martin and Gracia Burnham if the Philippine government does not halt its offensive against the group. The group already killed another American, Guillermo Sobero, who was kidnapped with the Burnhams.
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October 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Traps Guerrillas, Hostages, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

SANFORD -- Muslim guerrillas holding two American missionaries hostage in the dense jungle of the southern Philippines were reported cornered Tuesday by the army. The offensive came one day after the Philippine government vowed to continue its pursuit of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, despite threats that the missionaries would be beheaded. But the New Tribes Mission of Sanford challenged reports from the Philippines that the rebels threatened to execute its missionaries. New Tribes officials would not speak publicly, fearing that anything they say might hinder attempts to free missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.
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October 22, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Rebels, 1 Soldier Die In Clashes

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Muslim guerrillas and government troops clashed in the Philippines' southern Sulu province Sunday, the military said. Sixteen rebels and one soldier were killed. Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, who heads the Philippines' Southern Command, said the fighting began about dawn when soldiers chanced upon a group of about 100 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the Talipao area of Sulu's Jojo island. Sporadic clashes also broke out Sunday on nearby Basilan island, where Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding about a dozen hostages, including American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of the Sanford-based New Tribes mission.
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November 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Letter, Telling Stories,

Three stories all on the same page in Monday's Orlando Sentinel:

1. Seventeen Christians massacred at church in Pakistan.

2. Muslim rebels blamed in deadly blast in the Philippines that killed at least six people and injured 53 others.

3. Palestinian terrorists killed four women and seriously injured three other people in Israel.

Thankfully, Islam is a peaceful religion (as we've been told) or who knows where we'd be today.

Scott Ravede, DEBARY

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November 16, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 7 Win Freedom, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

When Muslim extremists released seven of their 10 remaining hostages late Wednesday in the Philippines, officials at New Tribes Mission in Sanford prayed two of their missionaries were among them. But there was no such luck for Martin and Gracia Burnham. Abu Sayyaf rebels -- a group backed by terrorist Osama bin Laden -- held on to the Americans they kidnapped from a second-honeymoon trip nearly six months ago.

The Burnhams were taken hostage May 27 as they vacationed at a beach resort on Palawan Island. From there, the couple have faced a terrorizing life on the run through the jungles of the southern Philippines as the Abu Sayyaf dodged the nation's army.

Martin Burnham is known to have been injured at least once in a clash between the rebels and the military.

One of the released hostages, Angie Montealegre, 31, said the Burnhams gave her a message to relay to their family, but she didn't reveal the specific content.

"They want me to tell what we really know of their condition, that they are not OK, they are not fine," Montealegre said. "They are sick and tired of being there, sick and tired of running."

Montealegre described harrowing conditions during clashes with pursuing troops.

"We learned how to run, we learned how to crawl, we learned how to jump because the bullets really whizzed past our heads," she said.

The Burnhams' plight has persuaded New Tribes officials in Florida to do more than pray for the release of the missionary couple from Wichita, Kan., who have lived in the Philippines since 1985.

New Tribes leaders and Paul Burnham, Martin's father, are in Washington this week pressing to get the Burnhams' release onto President Bush's agenda.

"We're trying every avenue we can," Paul Burnham said.

Bush is scheduled to meet with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo next week.

"We hope to convey to the president through our contacts in Washington our concern for Martin and Gracia's safety," said Scott Ross, a New Tribes spokesman who is in Washington with Paul Burnham. "We want to convey our desire for a start of a dialogue between the Philippine government and the rebels to get Martin and Gracia released."

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez attended a meeting with Burnham and Mary Jones, Gracia's sister. Golez said the Philippine government has no intention of negotiating with Abu Sayyaf.

Ross said members of Congress who are set to meet with Arroyo during her visit also would press for negotiations to get the Burnhams released.

Arroyo, who is set to arrive in Washington on Tuesday, has steadfastly pushed for a military solution. But the rebels have evaded capture for months by constantly moving through rugged mountain jungles on the southern island of Basilan, hostages in tow.

Wednesday's release of seven hostages -- which came as 7,000 Philippine military troops closed in on the rebels -- increased the anxiety about the Burnhams' plight.

Ross said a released hostage saw the Burnhams as late as Monday. The former hostage reported that while the Burnhams have lost weight and have been exposed to the elements for months, they are surviving, Ross said.

Hostages released earlier in the ordeal had described the Burnhams as keeping the group together, leading the hostages in prayer and song.

In the past, rebel leader Abu Sabaya has threatened to kill the Burnhams if any rescue operation is attempted. Another American whom the Abu Sayyaf took hostage along with the Burnhams, Guillermo Sobero of California, was beheaded. His body was found in October.

In a call to a Philippine radio station last month, Martin Burnham worried aloud that he and his wife would be killed before Arroyo's trip to meet with Bush.

Abu Sabaya told Radio Mindanao Network last month that "it would be embarrassing if President Arroyo goes to the U.S. with the bodies of Martin and Gracia."

Ross said he does not think Arroyo's visit puts the Burnhams in more danger, but he said New Tribes is concerned that the Philippine government refuses to open a dialogue with the Abu Sayyaf.

"There has been no indication from the Philippine government of a change in their strategy," Ross said. "They're keeping an open line for negotiations, but there would have to be a surrender and release of hostages before they will negotiate."

Meantime, the Burnhams' children and other family members can do nothing but pray and wait. The couple's three children, who were raised in the Philippines and are ages 10 to 14, are living with their grandparents in Rose Hill, Kan., near Wichita.

"The family seems to be doing well," Ross said. "The children continue to express concern for the parents. They would really love to see them home for the holidays."

Other members of the family, including sisters and brothers, think the longer the kidnapping goes on, the more dangerous it is for Martin and Gracia, both 42.

"We've learned that there has been some indiscriminate artillery and air bombardments on Abu Sayyaf positions," Ross said. "That concerns us."
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November 20, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 55 Dead In Renewed Rebellion,

JOLO, Philippines -- Hundreds of former Muslim rebels launched an armed uprising on a southern Philippine island Monday, reneging on a 1996 peace deal. Officials said 55 people -- four soldiers and 51 rebel gunmen -- were killed in the fighting that occurred while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is visiting the United States. END
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November 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Fire On Guerrillas,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Philippine troops used helicopter gunships to pound a sprawling complex held by Muslim guerrillas in southern Zamboanga on Tuesday, spreading panic in the mostly Christian city of 750,000 people. Military officials said the fighting was between soldiers and a group of followers of Nur Misuari, a former Muslim rebel chief who took up arms against the government again last week.
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November 27, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Captive Missionary Couple Express Fear, Hope, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

A Muslim guerrilla group with ties to Osama bin Laden put its bargaining chips on public display Monday with a TV interview of two kidnapped missionaries from Sanford-based New Tribes Mission. Gracia Burnham, handcuffed and wearing a Muslim-style head covering, sobbed as she talked about her fear of dying and her love for her three children. Nearby, a 9-year-old rebel stood with an assault rifle. Gracia Burnham's husband, Martin, appeared with a heavy red beard and showed signs of considerable weight loss.
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December 1, 2002, New York Times, U.S. Considers Expansion Of Military Role In Southern Philippines, by Eric Schmitt,

WASHINGTON -- The United States and the Philippines may soon start a new military-training operation against Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines that would involve 300 to 400 American troops, including many on jungle combat patrols in a risky hunt for a resurgent guerrilla force, military officials say. The proposed exercise, which could begin in January, reflects the Pentagon's growing concern that militant Islamic networks pose an increasing threat...
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December 1, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostages' Relatives Push U.s.for Rescue, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

The family of American missionaries held hostage by Philippine guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden increased pressure on the U.S. government Friday to do more to free them. Appearing on CBS' The Early Show, family of Martin and Gracia Burnham said the couple are clearly suffering. Gracia Burnham's sister, Mary Jones, said that, after watching a video of the couple broadcast this week, she thought they were hardly recognizable. "I'd like to see the United States get more involved in assisting the Philippines in getting my sister out," Jones said.
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December 2, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Attack Rebel Camp,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Government soldiers stormed a camp of Muslim rebels Saturday, killing five insurgents in a four-hour battle, the military said. Another guerrilla was killed in a separate clash Saturday on the outskirts of Zamboanga, a spokesman for the military's Southern Command said. Nine soldiers were injured in the fighting.
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December 23, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Hostages To Be Freed By End Of Year, Philippines Says,

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines on Saturday expressed hope that an American couple and a Filipino nurse held hostage for more than six months by Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels would be freed by the end of the year, but ruled out paying a ransom. The military has been given instructions to block any group helping the Abu Sayyaf get ransom in exchange for the release of American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, said presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao.
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December 31, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, 13 Rebels Die In Skirmish,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Philippine marines raided a Muslim guerrilla camp in a southern jungle, killing 13 combatants in a five-hour battle, a military official said Sunday. The skirmish took place Saturday on Jolo island, about 590 miles south of Manila, the latest in a series of battles in the southern region of Mindanao. The official said the rebels were Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

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January 9, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Rebels Die In Army Offensive,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Army troops clashed with Muslim rebels in a southern province Tuesday, killing at least 11 guerrillas thought to support a renegade former governor, military officials said. The fighting in a mountainous area straddling three towns in Sulu, where the military has waged an offensive against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, wounded at least four soldiers.
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January 16, 2002, Washington Post, U.S. Expands Its War On Terrorism As Troops Arrive In Philippines, by Steve Vogel,

U.S. Special Forces have begun arriving in the Philippines to assist Philippine troops in their fight against Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden, a significant expansion of the U.S. war on terrorism outside Afghanistan. Although the deployment is a training exercise, the U.S. troops will accompany front-line Filipino forces on patrols in guerrilla-threatened areas in the southern Philippines. Approximately 650 U.S. soldiers, including 160 Special Forces, will take part in the exercise, defense officials said Tuesday.

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January 17, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Troops Hit Rebels, Fall Into Turncoat Ambush,

JOLO, Philippines -- Artillery and helicopter gunships fired at Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, and an ambush by turncoat police killed three soldiers and one civilian, officials said. Col. Dominador Makalintal, operations chief of the 104th Infantry Battalion, said the army attacked renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf guerrillas near the town of Indanan town on Jolo Island.
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January 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Worries As U.s. Troops Join Hunt For Hostages, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

SANFORD -- American missionary Gracia Burnham turned 43 on Thursday, having survived nearly eight months as a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf rebels holed up in the rugged jungles of the Philippines. Burnham and her husband, Martin, 42, have endured midnight retreats through the south Pacific, running firefights with Philippine army troops and grueling jungle treks with little food and water. But colleagues and family fear the latest threat to the missionary couple's lives may be the United States' increased military involvement in the Philippines.
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January 20, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Troops Set Up Camp For U.s. Trainers,

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine troops have set up a jungle camp for U.S. Special Forces who will train local soldiers in missions designed to wipe out a Muslim extremist group linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization, a military spokesman said Saturday. The "forward base" is on the southern island of Basilan, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are holding an American couple hostage, Maj. Noel Detoyato of the military's Southern Command said in Zamboanga, across a strait from Basilan.
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January 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionaries' Plight Is Dire, by Amy C. Rippel, Sentinel Staff Writer,

American missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham spend their nights handcuffed to trees, their days dodging bullets that whiz past their heads and endure oozing sores all over their bodies.

Eight months after being kidnapped by Muslim guerrillas, the couple recounted their struggles in a CBS news broadcast that aired Monday night.

The Burnhams, who have worked in the Philippines for the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission during the past 18 years, were interviewed in late November on the island of Basilan. The video, made by a free-lance journalist, aired on the CBS news program 48 Hours, along with interviews with the Burnhams' family and friends.

The video showed the haggard couple flanked by machine-gun-wielding guerrillas.

Gracia Burnham sobbed as she said their survival is always a concern. "Every time I hear a twig snap, I think it's a gunshot. I wake up hearing gunshots in the middle of the night," Gracia Burnham said. "I know that what I'm saying sounds selfish, about wanting someone to negotiate for us, but we can't help ourselves."

In May, Martin, 42, and Gracia Burnham, 43, who are from Kansas, were taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

The Philippine government has refused to bargain with the guerrillas, who have ties to Osama bin Laden.

The 48 Hours segment on the couple's plight showed snippets of the three-hour interview along with pleas from family and friends to let them free. A news crew trailed the Philippine army into the rugged jungle looking for the couple, but it led to a dead end -- one of many in the search for the Burnhams.

Earlier this month, the United States stepped up its military involvement by sending soldiers to begin training Filipino troops to battle the rebels.

But the U.S. involvement makes colleagues and family members cringe. They worry the couple might get caught in the crossfire.

New Tribes spokesman Scott Ross, who is based in Sanford, hopes the news-show segment revives interest in bringing the Burnhams home. The months that have passed since the interview have made their situation more desperate and the need to free them even greater.

After watching the program, Ross said he was touched by the emotional plea from the couple's three children.

"We do need to call upon the U.S. government to get more involved in getting the Burnhams released," he said.
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January 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S., Philippines Launch Joint Military Exercises,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The United States and the Philippines today officially launched joint military exercises to combat Muslim extremism in this country's south as part of America's expanded war on terror. A ceremony was held amid heavy security with intelligence reports saying some groups might try to disrupt the war games. Senior officers from both countries presided over the opening at the headquarters of the southern Philippine military command in Zamboanga city, near Basilan island, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been holding a U.S. missionary couple and a Philippine nurse hostage for more than eight months.
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February 1, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S.-missionary Sighting Reported,

ISABELA, Philippines -- Philippine troops spotted a woman they think was U.S. missionary Gracia Burnham, who was kidnapped with her husband, Martin, in May last year by Muslim militants, military officials said today. She was sighted Jan. 23 on the southern island of Basilan just before a gunfight broke out between Abu Sayyaf rebels who are holding the couple and the troops, Capt. Rommel Pagayon, battalion officer of the army based in Basilan, told Reuters. The soldiers saw two females riding on a horse and one of them was a Caucasian, he said.
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February 1, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Troops Start To Train, Support Philippine Soldiers,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The U.S. military mission to train and support Philippine troops fighting a terror group hiding in the jungles of the country's southern isles began Thursday, even as the two nations continued talks about what limits should be placed on the American soldiers arriving here. After a nationally televised ceremony kicking off six months of joint exercises, senior Philippine and U.S. military officials acknowledged they had yet to complete an agreement defining the chain of command and operational limits for U.S. special-operations forces.
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February 6, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, $2 Million Asked For Couple, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

Officials at the international headquarters of New Tribes Mission in Sanford huddled behind closed doors Tuesday after a television station in the Philippines reported ransom demands by terrorists holding two of their missionaries there.

As the sun set Tuesday in Sanford, and Wednesday was already dawning in the Philippines, the officials were on the telephone to colleagues a half-world away, trying to learn of any new developments.

At stake are the lives of Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries from Kansas who were kidnapped May 27 by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist group.

The Philippine TV network ABS-CBN said Tuesday that it had obtained copies of four letters between rebel leader Abu Sabaya and his sister, who lives on Basilan island, where the guerrillas have held the Burnhams since their capture.

This is the first time that ransom demanded by the Abu Sayyaf has been made public, although the Philippine media have said the group makes such demands and that in some cases ransoms have been paid.

"The Abu Sayyaf will not free Martin and Gracia Burnham if they do not receive $2 million," the network reported, citing the letters, which it said were written last month in the native Tausug and Yakan languages.

The Philippines' official policy is not to pay ransoms.

New Tribes spokesman Scott Ross recently reiterated the organization's policy against paying ransom and noted that those who do pay ransom make it harder for them.

"We're disheartened that other organizations pay ransom," Ross said.

Organizations that pay ransoms only encourage other kidnappings, but New Tribes can't begrudge organizations that do anything possible to free captives, Ross said.

"We can't do anything but glory in the release of any hostage."

"The United States repeats the hostages should be released immediately, safely and unconditionally," a U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

The guerrillas have eluded about 6,000 soldiers deployed to rescue the hostages.

Along with the Burnhams, the rebels are still holding Filipino nurse Deborah Yap in the rugged jungle in the southern Philippines.

Another American kidnapped at the same time as the Burnhams, Guillermo Sobero of California, was beheaded by the terrorists.

The Philippines and the U.S. military last week opened joint training exercises aimed at wiping out the Abu Sayyaf.

The exercises will involve 660 U.S. soldiers. They will be armed only for self-defense.
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February 11, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Kills Guerrillas Linked To Bin Laden's Terrorist Network,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Philippine forces bombarded Muslim rebels on a southern island Sunday after an ambush on soldiers and killed an unspecified number of guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden, the army said. Army spokesman Maj. Noel Detoyato said troops fired howitzers at Abu Sayyaf positions on Jolo island after Friday's guerrilla ambush in which six Filipino soldiers were killed. END
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February 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Military Hits Rebel Camps,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Military warplanes pounded a Muslim extremist group's stronghold in the southern Philippines on Tuesday in retaliation for Abu Sayyaf attacks that killed several soldiers, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the airstrikes by two jet fighters and two helicopters, and subsequent mortar fire on rebel mountain camps in the coastal town of Patikul on Jolo island.
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February 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Soldiers Missing In Crash Of Copter, by Warren P. Strobel, Knight Ridder Newspapers,

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Army helicopter taking part in anti-terrorist operations in the Philippines crashed into the sea early today with 10 Americans aboard. The Defense Department said no survivors had been found, although a search was still under way. Early today, radio and television stations in the Philippines said that fishermen had rescued three survivors, but the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii could not confirm that. The crash of the Army MH-47 helicopter comes as the United States is significantly escalating its involvement in the Philippine government's war against a home-grown terrorist group with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.
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February 27, 2002, Washington Post, U.S. War On Terror Opens On New Front, by Vernon Loeb and Peter Slevin,

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has begun providing combat helicopters to the former Soviet republic of Georgia and will soon begin training several Georgian battalions to counter what defense officials think is a growing terrorist threat in the country's mountainous Pankisi Gorge region, senior U.S. officials said Tuesday. The move to train and equip the Georgian military opens a new front in the Bush administration's war on terrorism. The United States and Georgia think that al-Qaeda members and other Islamic extremists from Chechnya have taken refuge in northern Georgia along the Chechen border.
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March 6, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Commander: Troops In Philippines Will Not Fight,

WASHINGTON -- The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific assured Congress on Tuesday that there would be no combat role for American troops training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism. Philippine leaders, said Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, head of U.S. Pacific Command, "recognize that this is their fight. They only want assistance, not replacements." About 600 American troops, including 160 special-operations forces, are training Philippine forces fighting the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines. The group kidnapped a Sanford-based missionary couple and has been linked to al-Qaeda terrorists.
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March 8, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, High-tech Help May Lead Rescuers To Missionaries, by Tyler Marshall, Foreign Correspondent,

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine armed forces, with U.S. assistance, have determined the general location of two American hostages being held by Islamic militants on the southern island of Basilan and are ready to launch operations to free them, the country's chief military spokesman said Thursday. Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said he expects new sightings of Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries for New Tribes Mission in Sanford, now that U.S. military personnel and high-technology surveillance and communications equipment have arrived on the island.
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March 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Abu Sayyaf Leader Arrested,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- A senior Abu Sayyaf guerrilla has been arrested in the southern Philippines, where a Philippine-U.S. military operation is stepping up pressure on Muslim militants holding an American couple, military officials said Thursday. Munib Assa, accused of kidnapping students and beheading two teachers two years ago, was arrested Tuesday in the southern port city of Zamboanga after he was identified by one of his kidnap victims, Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Diaz said. END
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March 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Army Clashes With Guerrillas,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- More than 100 Philippine troops clashed with about two dozen Muslim rebels Sunday on a southern island where American forces are training soldiers as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism. At least one militiaman fighting with the soldiers was hurt in a gunbattle that erupted at dawn and dragged on through the day in coconut groves on Basilan island, a Filipino brigade commander said. Twelve American advisers at a nearby camp were not allowed near the fighting.
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March 20, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Troops Enter Battle Zone,

UPPER MANGGAS, Philippines -- Green Berets sped into a combat zone in a pickup Tuesday to help Filipino soldiers to safety after rebels unleashed grenades and small-arms fire on a Filipino army patrol. It was the second time U.S. troops have ventured into the combat zone since February, when they began advising the Philippine army in its fight against Abu Sayyaf rebels. Abu Sayyaf is thought to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. END
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March 22, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Medics Rescue Filipinos Hurt In Battle With Muslims,

TABIAWAN ARMY BASE, Philippines -- U.S. military medics flew into a combat zone Thursday to treat and evacuate seven Filipino soldiers wounded in a clash with Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines. The fight broke out near the coconut-growing village of Bolansa on the southern island of Basilan. The clash with rebels of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda-linked group infamous for beheading captives, is the third in the area since Friday. At least 12 Filipinos were wounded and one was killed.
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March 31, 2002, New York Times, U.S. Troops May Extend Stay, by Jane Perlez,
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The U.S. troops sent here with fanfare last month to train the Philippine military in counterterrorism, and to help rescue two American hostages, will most likely stay longer than the originally announced six months, U.S. and Filipino officials said last week. The heart of the training by 160 special-operations forces on the island of Basilan, just across the straits from this southern city, has yet to begin even though the exercise was supposed to wind down in April and end in June, the officials said.
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April 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Talks Under Way To Free Hostages, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

New Tribes Mission officials in Sanford scrambled Friday to confirm news-media reports that U.S.-monitored negotiations are under way to free two of their missionaries being held hostage in the Philippines.

The White House expressed concern for Gracia and Martin Burnham but refused to discuss negotiations for their release, citing the couple's safety.

"We're aware of the media reports," said New Tribes spokesman Scott Ross, but the Sanford-based organization was unable to verify the information through contacts in the Philippines.

The negotiations were being conducted by an unidentified group known to the rebels, and the talks were at a delicate stage, senior U.S. officials said.

The discussions involved possible payments of several hundred thousand dollars and other considerations, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

One official said the negotiations were being monitored by the highest levels at the White House and intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. "There has been some progress and activity as recent as today," the official said late Thursday.

The U.S. government has a policy of not paying ransom for hostages. That goes for New Tribes, too.

"We're maintaining our policy of no ransoms," Ross said. "We're not part of any deal."

Ross said he is in daily contact with the Burnham family in Kansas, and family members deny involvement, he said.

Oreta Burnham, Martin's mother, told the Associated Press on Friday that family members know nothing about the negotiations other than what they have read in newspapers.

"I don't know how to react to this," she said.

She said family members have been talking with State Department officials but have received no information from them about the negotiations.

"The money did not come from us," she said.

Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group with links to Sept. 11 suspect Osama bin Laden, is holding the Burnhams and Ediborah Yap, a nurse from the Philippines.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen raided the Dos Palmas resort May 27 and abducted three Americans and 17 Filipinos. All the hostages were taken to Abu Sayyaf strongholds. Other captives were seized on Basilan last year. Most of the hostages got away, but an American captured with the Burnhams was beheaded.

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April 21, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Military Engineers Help Anti-terror Campaign,

FUEGO FUEGO BEACH, Philippines -- More than 300 U.S. military engineers bringing bulldozers and heavy equipment landed on a Philippine island Saturday to work on construction projects to help a American-backed offensive against Muslim extremists. U.S. officials said the troops will, among other things, build roads, helicopter landing zones and clear an unused airstrip for the 160 U.S. Special Forces soldiers training Filipino troops fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which holds two American missionaries hostage. The Abu Sayyaf have held Martin and Gracia Burnham of Sanford-based New Tribes Mission for 11 months. END
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April 26, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rebels Lied On Freeing Hostages, Dad Says, by Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer,

The father of a kidnapped missionary for New Tribes Mission of Sanford accused Muslim rebels Thursday of reneging on an agreement to release his son, daughter-in-law and a third hostage.

Paul Burnham, who made the disclosure in a call to a radio station in the southern Philippines, accused extremist group Abu Sayyaf of failing to release Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap as it agreed to do.

He complained Abu Sayyaf also added extra, unspecified conditions to the deal he said was finalized March 13. An undisclosed ransom payment was part of that deal. Burnham told the station the deal was reached through a mediator, Abu Sulaiman. He said Sulaiman told the family March 19 that Abu Sayyaf agreed to a five-day window on freeing the hostages.

"On March 26, Abu Sulaiman advised us to tell Martin and Gracia's children that they would be released soon," Paul Burnham said. "The children and the family have been anxiously waiting for them to abide by their word.

"But it now seems that they do not intend to keep their promises to us, and can any family believe the promises of the Abu Sayyaf in the future? Is it futile to make agreements with them?"

Oreta Burnham, contacted at home, said her husband called Radio Mindanao Network because "he wanted to make a statement to the station that the kidnappers listen to.

"We were hopeful that they would be released in March," she said. "We weren't directly involved in it. There was a third party involved."

Paul Burnham would not discuss reports that a ransom had been paid.

"This is a situation where we're not at liberty to share anything," he said. "There are things that we know now that we didn't know."

As late as last week, New Tribes spokesman Scott Ross said the Burnhams were not party to any attempts to pay ransom for the missionaries' release. But Thursday, the organization said it learned of such involvement during the weekend.

"NTM was not involved in any deal," said a statement from the organization. "The mission was not consulted about this agreement. The families acted independently of NTM. New Tribes Mission maintains its policy to not pay ransom."

The Burnhams and Yap are the last hostages from an Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree that began a year ago. Some captives escaped or were released, reportedly for ransom. Others, including American Guillermo Sobero, were beheaded.

"The family of Martin and Gracia are deeply saddened and disappointed to learn that the Abu Sayyaf has broadcast its intention to continue holding Martin and Gracia and Deborah Yap until additional demands are met," Paul Burnham said in a statement carried by the radio station. It was unclear where Abu Sayyaf had broadcast that intention.

Senior U.S. officials said April 12 that they were monitoring negotiations for the Burnhams' release that were being conducted by a group known to the rebels and that the talks were at a delicate stage.

The discussions involved possible payments of several hundred thousand dollars and other considerations, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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April 30, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Abu Sayyaf Denies Receiving Ransom Payment,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Muslim guerrillas with suspected links to al-Qaeda have denied receiving a hefty ransom for the release of a U.S. missionary couple held for almost a year in the Philippines. "We deny the statement that they gave us $300,000," Abu Sabaya, leader of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, said in a telephone call to the Radio Mindanao Network broadcast Monday. The family of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Sanford-based New Tribes Mission said last week that it had made a deal with the guerrillas to release the couple but that the Abu Sayyaf reneged.

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May 5, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Arrested In Camp Raid,

MANILA, Philippines -- Police said Saturday that they had raided a suspected terrorist training camp at an Islamic school, seized several weapons and arrested nine men after a clash nearby. Police said they think the camp was linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, but not to Abu Sayyaf, a group holding two American missionaries and a Filipino nurse hostage. END
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May 11, 2002, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, Report: Hostage Missionary Sick, by Alan Bjerga,

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials were investigating international media reports Friday that Martin Burnham has steadily worsening malaria, raising fears he could die without proper treatment.

Oreta Burnham, Martin's mother, said the State Department is following up reports by French, German and British news services quoting Philippine Col. Alexander Aleo as saying that Burnham has suffered from malaria for the past several weeks and that lack of rest is making his condition worse.

"We are receiving information that Martin Burnham is sick and suffering from malaria," Aleo told the British Broadcasting Corp. "The Abu Sayyaf holding Martin is worried that he might die an untimely death."

Aleo, who commands a Philippine military brigade pursuing Martin and Gracia Burnhams' kidnappers on the southern island of Basilan, added that the military is prepared to give Burnham the medicine he needs -- once he's found.

The Rose Hill, Kan., missionary couple, who work for Sanford-based New Tribes Mission, has been held hostage in the Philippines since May 27. But despite the presence of about 7,000 Filipino and 1,000 U.S. soldiers, the small band of Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holding the Burnhams and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap has eluded capture.

Although Oreta Burnham said she was concerned about the malaria reports, they are only one more twist in what will soon be a yearlong ordeal.

State Department officials did not return calls asking for comment on the reports.
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May 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, New Tribes Missionary May Go Free,

ROSE HILL, Kan. -- The family of an American missionary couple being held hostage by Muslim extremists in the Philippines was hopeful but guarded Tuesday after learning that one may be released because of illness.

Manila newspapers reported that the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, which kidnapped Martin and Gracia Burnham nearly a year ago, is considering releasing Gracia Burnham because she has a urinary-tract infection and her health is deteriorating.

The newspapers said the source of the information was an unidentified emissary in touch with the guerrillas.

Burnham, 43, has a history of such infections and lacks proper medical care in captivity, said her mother-in-law, Oreta Burnham, of Rose Hill.

"She's had these problems in the past," she said. "If she doesn't get the right medication, that won't clear up."

The Philippine news media, also based on information gathered from the emissary, reported last week that Martin Burnham, 42, was showing signs of suffering from malaria. There was no confirmation that either report was accurate.

"This is raw information subject to verification," Philippine Southern Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said. "Perhaps the Abu Sayyaf is considering this for humanitarian reasons.

"What we have gathered from the ground is that the health of Gracia is deteriorating, but we are still verifying this," Servando said. "We hope it is true what the emissary is saying, whoever he is."

U.S. State Department officials who spoke with Oreta Burnham on Tuesday morning also could not verify the reports, she said.

"It would be good if she were released, and we would hope they would release Martin as well," she said.

Martin and Gracia Burnham, members of Sanford-based New Tribes Mission, were kidnapped along with 18 others from a resort on Palawan island in the Philippines on May 27, 2001. Rebels beheaded the only other American in the group, Guillermo Sobero of California.

Except for the Burnhams and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, all of the other captives were later released or escaped.

The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for an independent Muslim state. Many of its members have evaded capture despite the efforts of thousands of Filipino troops.

The United States, which has linked the guerrillas to al-Qaeda, sent 600 troops to Basilan island, where the Burnhams are thought to be held, for military exercises aimed at training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism.

Earlier this month, after Philippine President Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo's government rejected the guerrillas' call for negotiations, an Abu Sayyaf spokesman said the group might kill the Burnhams.

The government told the rebels to free their captives without conditions and surrender, or they would be crushed.
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May 27, 2002, The Dallas Morning News, Philippine Island Gets Reprieve From Terror, by Gregg Jones,

Since U.s. Troops Arrived On Basilan, Muslim Rebels Have Kidnapped No One.

ISABELA, Philippines -- You learned to live with the fear, Sonia Acuna said. If you were Christian and couldn't afford to leave Basilan island, you had no choice.

You left your house each morning on edge, wondering whether this would be your day to be kidnapped or beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf, the brutal band of Muslim rebels that has terrorized this island for a decade, Acuna said.

"You never know when and where," the 43-year-old midwife said.

Lately, however, Basilan residents such as Acuna -- Christian and Muslim alike -- say they feel as though they've been rescued from the clutches of a monster.

Since U.S. Army special-operations forces arrived on the island in mid-February, opening a second front in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, there has not been a single kidnapping or beheading on Basilan.

Boasting perhaps 1,000 fighters a year ago, the Abu Sayyaf now is thought to have 50 to 60 men roaming the jungles of Basilan, Philippine and U.S. military officers here said.

People who fled their homes in fear have begun to return. Shops that were boarded up are reopening.

"We're very grateful to have you Americans here," Acuna said. "It gives us courage to fight back. We were so demoralized, and now we feel safe."

The presence of 160 U.S. soldiers on this rugged island has given new life to Basilan's beleaguered people, many residents say. About 300,000 people live on Basilan, and 60 percent are Muslim.

"We find the Americans to be nice," said Masud Agta, 27, a village official and Abu Sayyaf member until he surrendered to Philippine soldiers in March. "They've initiated good projects. We want the Americans to be here because they are bringing Basilan development."

The special-operations forces -- backed by 280 U.S. military engineers and about 500 support personnel based in the nearby port city of Zamboanga -- have quickly made their mark on Basilan. In addition to training Philippine soldiers, they've conducted free health clinics, built roads and bridges and even taught rural children how to brush their teeth.

"We've done a lot of things to win the hearts and minds of people here," Sgt. Maj. Vic Allen said. "I feel like a rock star when I walk down the road. Everybody waves and comes out and says hello."

The stated aim of the U.S. mission is to "train, advise and assist the armed forces of the Philippines in combating terrorism in the southern Philippines," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Gordon, a spokesman for U.S. military operations here.

The strategic goal is to deny local Muslim militants and operatives of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group a haven in Southeast Asia, U.S. and Philippine officials said.

"The United States has a vested interest in making sure there are no safe havens for terrorists anywhere in the world, whether it's the deserts of Afghanistan, the mountains of Chechnya or the jungles of Basilan," Gordon said.
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May 30, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Offers Bounty For Abu Sayyaf, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

The U.S. government Wednesday offered up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any of the top five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham in the Philippines.

The bounty, which would be paid out of the government's anti-terrorism Rewards for Justice program, comes as the deadline nears for the U.S. military to pull out of the Philippines.

Nearly 700 U.S. troops have been providing counterterrorism training to the Philippine army in an attempt to track down and crush the Abu Sayyaf. That exercise, which also is aimed at freeing the Burnhams, is scheduled to end July 31. But there has been little progress in the military's efforts, and U.S. officials conceded this month that they have no idea where the Burnhams are being held.

"The United States is kind of at a loss in the Philippines," said Mark Burgess, a military-research analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C. "The reward could well be some sort of insurance. They may be thinking, 'If we do decide to pull out, we can say we did everything we could.' "

Officials at New Tribes Mission of Sanford said they support any initiative that could lead to the Burnhams' release.

But they worry that the reward offer may signal the U.S. military will leave the Philippines with or without the Burnhams.

"It's a travesty that they could come and go with Martin and Gracia still in captivity," New Tribes spokesman Robert Mycell told the Los Angeles Times this week.

U.S. State Department and Defense Department officials insist the new initiative is not linked to the military's schedule.

"That's comparing apples to tuna fish," said Lt. Col. Stephen Barger, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command.

"We felt it was an opportune time to put another tool [the money] into the hands of Philippine law enforcement," said Darlene Kirk, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Defense Security Office.

But Burgess said linking the reward to the military's activity is not far-fetched. "This is happening now for a reason," he said.

The Abu Sayyaf leaders targeted by the reward includes Abu Sabaya, who is accused of masterminding the May 27, 2001, raid on the resort island of Palawan, where the Burnhams, another American and 17 Filipinos were taken captive. The American, Guillermo Sobero, was later beheaded and all but one of the Filipino hostages was released.

Meanwhile, Abu Sabaya on Thursday made a statement that he might free a local nurse his group has held for almost a year but made no mention of the Burnhams, who have been kept hostage longer.

Sabaya told a local radio station that his group would free nurse Deborah Yap "any time soon."

Abu Sayyaf has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"We believe that ordinary citizens of the Philippines and elsewhere may have the information that can help bring the Abu Sayyaf terrorists to justice," U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Francis Ricciardone Jr. said.
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May 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rebel Chief To Release Nurse,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- A Muslim rebel leader said Thursday that he will release his last remaining Filipino hostage but didn't mention an American missionary couple captive for more than a year. Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, said in an interview with RMN Radio that he will release nurse Deborah Yap at "any moment." Sabaya, apparently using a satellite telephone, said his group would release Yap not for ransom but partly because, he said, the nurse helped the guerrillas. "She has become a part of us because she has no choice." END
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June 3, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Troops Closer To Finding Kidnapped Pair, U.S. Says,

MANILA, Philippines -- U.S. and Filipino forces are getting closer to finding an American couple kidnapped a year ago by Muslim militants, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Sunday. Martin and Gracia Burnham of Sanford-based New Tribes Mission are being held by the Abu Sayyaf, which is linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. About 1,000 U.S. troops are in the Philippines to provide training and other support to the Filipino military forces fighting the militants. END
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June 8, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage Ordeal Ends, by Gwyneth K. Shaw, Sentinel Staff Writer,

WASHINGTON -- It was a chance encounter that led a group of Philippine army commandos to the rebels holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

The U.S.-trained rangers were slogging through the mountainous jungle hunting Abu Sayyaf guerrillas when they spotted footprints in the mud.

They followed the trail and came across a group of about 50 Muslim rebels, who had stopped to rest under trees because of heavy rain.

Moving slowly, the commandos got within 30 yards of the guerrillas when one soldier reported seeing the Burnhams.

"When we saw that the two Americans were there, our CO [commanding officer] gave us the order to open fire," Pvt. Rene Mabilog told The Associated Press. "We opened fire, and they fought back."

Hundreds of other Philippine troops joined the Rangers as the firefight raged for about two hours.

By the time the gunfight was over nearly two hours later, Martin Burnham, 42, was dead and a Filipino nurse, Deborah Yap, lay fatally wounded.

Gracia Burnham, 43, was found lying wounded on a riverbank by Cpl. Rodelio Tuazon. She had a gunshot wound to her thigh.

"I saw her lying wounded by a creek," said Tuazon, who also was wounded. "I asked her if she was OK. She just cried."

Mabilog said they applied "a tourniquet to her wound and carried her away."

The Burnhams had survived the horrors of the jungle for more than a year. They were kidnapped while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary on May 27, 2001. Martin Burnham suffered from malaria, and his wife developed a severe urinary-tract infection during their ordeal.

They lived with the constant threat of being killed by their captors. Shortly after they were kidnapped, a fellow prisoner was beheaded by the terrorists.

When the battle was over Friday, it was unclear who had shot whom.

Four of the rebels were killed and eight Philippine soldiers were wounded, according to a military spokesman.

For more than a week, the Rangers had been tracking members of the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic fundamentalist group with loose ties to al-Qaeda, as part of Operation Daybreak. Heavy rains had turned the jungle into a swamp, making pursuit difficult.

The firefight occurred in the town of Siraway, which is in the Zamboanga del Norte province on the island of Mindanao.

Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. military helicopters flew the injured Philippine soldiers and Gracia Burnham to Camp Navarro, which is in nearby Zamboanga City.

Gracia Burnham received treatment from U.S. military medical personnel and was later transported to a civilian hospital in Manila.

Martin Burnham's body was transported first to Edwin Andrews Air Base, and from there to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, Davis said.

There were no Americans with the group of rangers, but the U.S. military had helped to train the Philippine force and equipped it with silencers, night-vision goggles and high-tech headsets. The United States also has deployed P-3 Orion surveillance planes and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to support the operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

Recently, U.S. surveillance detected unusual boat movement between Basilan and Mindanao islands. Ground troops were sent in, including Philippine marine reconnaissance units, army scout rangers and other elite companies.

"The surveillance equipment of the Americans was very instrumental in locating where the Abu Sayyaf was," Philippine Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio said.

But American officials said they were unaware of the shootout, or the discovery of the hostages, until it was over and Burnham and Yap were already dead.

Davis said the Philippine army kept its American advisers apprised of the progress of the strike into the jungle, which began more than a week ago.

The aim of Operation Daybreak was not to rescue the hostages, Davis said, but to work on the long-term goal of breaking Abu Sayyaf's hold on parts of the island nation.

There are roughly 1,200 Americans in the Philippines, training that nation's soldiers to fight terrorism -- the largest operation outside Afghanistan. U.S. forces have provided training in the Philippines since February as part of the fight against terrorism.

But that instruction has been of a general nature and did not specifically include methods for extracting hostages, Davis said.

"Our mission there has never been about rescuing hostages," Davis said. "It has been about providing the armed forces of the Philippines with a counterterrorism capability so they can prevent the southern portion of the Philippines from becoming a haven for terrorists," he said. "Certainly we've had interest in the [hostage] issue, but there's never been talk of a U.S. operation to do this."

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defended the troops involved, saying they "tried their best to hold their fire" to avoid hurting the hostages.

But Arroyo, President Bush and others vowed to ratchet up the pressure on the Abu Sayyaf, whose numbers are thought to have dwindled to fewer than 100 from about 1,000 a year ago.

The Philippine military will expand its operations "to finish off" the rebel group, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

Davis echoed that statement, saying the American military wants to make sure that the Philippines can fight terrorism on its own once the advisers depart.

"The operation will continue," he said. "Our determination is only strengthened by these events."
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June 9, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, In Burnhams' New World, Joy And Grief Mingle, by Jeff Kunerth and Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writers,

ROSE HILL, Kan. -- On a Little League baseball diamond at Grace Harris Park in this suburb of Wichita, 11-year-old Zach Burnham came to bat Saturday while a mile away his grandparents made funeral arrangements for his father.

Half a world away, as the body of slain missionary Martin Burnham awaited an autopsy at a military base in Okinawa, Japan, his 43-year-old widow, Gracia, made plans for a farewell picnic with friends on the grounds of the American Embassy in the Philippines.

For the Burnhams, a two-generation family of missionaries, the death of Martin Burnham and the rescue of his wife from rebels in the Philippine jungle Friday were both tragedy and triumph, glory and agony, the end and the beginning.

"Father we take comfort in knowing that your will is best, but we lost a friend who won't be coming back and it hurts a little," Bob Conard said during a morning prayer service. "Father, I know this is hard, but I am comforted that Martin's life is with you and now he knows the answers and can enjoy your presence. But, father, that still leaves an empty space."

Gracia Burnham, recovering from a gunshot wound to the thigh, could leave the Philippines as early as Monday with her sister Mary Jones; sister-in-law Cheryl Spicer; and Robert Meisel, vice chairman of New Tribes Mission in Manila, said Scott Ross, spokesman for New Tribes Mission at its headquarters in Sanford. Jones and Spicer left for the Philippines on Saturday.

Martin Burnham's body will be returned to the United States pending an autopsy to determine who killed the 42-year-old missionary. A senior Philippine official said Saturday that Burnham was killed in the crossfire by Philippine soldiers.

When she gets back to Rose Hill, a new life awaits Gracia Burnham and her three children -- Zach, Jeff, 15, and Mindy, 12. "Gracia is going to have to see where God leads her in her new role as a single mother," Ross said.

In their more than 12 months as hostages of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, Martin and Gracia Burnham prepared themselves for the day when Philippine commandos would track down their captors -- and for the possibility they might not survive.

"They had anticipated that something like this would happen. They talked about this and recognized that their lives are in God's hands. It's an incredible testimony to their faith," Meisel said.

Martin Burnham sang his wife songs to calm her fears at night and wrote his three children stories to remember him by, relatives said. Former captives held with the Burnhams said the Americans' strong religious faith supported them through their ordeal.

Every time Philippine troops attacked the Burnhams' captors, "Martin would grab Gracia by the hand as they ran for cover," said Reina Malonzo, a nurse who was released after five months of captivity.

"He would never let go," she said, "even if his other hand was being pulled and strained by a rebel guard chained to him."

The Burnhams were kidnapped May 27, 2001, while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary on a resort island in the Philippines. Martin Burnham was following in the footsteps of his parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham, who served as missionaries in the Philippines for 32 years.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

The elder Burnhams spent Saturday arranging for their son's funeral.

Their religion and work as New Tribes missionaries prepared Martin and Gracia Burnham, their families and friends for the life that would follow their release or deaths.

The couple's children, who were all born in the Philippines, exhibit the same deep faith and spiritual strength as their parents, New Tribes spokesman Ross said.

"The Burnhams have planted those same seeds of faith in their children," he said.

On Saturday, less than 24 hours after the bloody firefight killed Martin Burnham, fellow hostage Filipino nurse Deborah Yap and four of their kidnappers, the Burnhams' hometown in Kansas reflected the family's determination to grieve and get on with life at the same time.

On the marquee for Star Dust Feed and Supply, one side urged, "Keep The Burnhams In Your Prayers." On the other side, it offered the staples of a farm community: "Onion Sets, Seed, Candy and Vidalia Onions, Pansies."

As Gracia Burnham prepared Saturday to return home from the island nation where she and her husband had been spreading their faith since 1986, she met with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for about 20 minutes at a U.S. Embassy-owned compound in Manila.

Witnesses said Burnham wore a red dress and sat in a wheelchair with a white sheet over her feet, which might have been injured from a year spent in the jungle.

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone described Burnham as "very alert, cheerful and very insightful about her experience." The diplomat said the missionary "described in great detail how she knew they were being tracked and they expected something would happen."

Arroyo was impressed by Burnham's recovery from her 376 days as the longest-held foreign captive in the country since Muslim rebels began seizing hostages in the 1970s.

"She's a wonderful person," she said. "She sees the whole thing from God's eyes, and I'd like to let the soldiers know that she fully appreciates their efforts and she told me many, many times that I should be proud of them."

PICNIC WITH FRIENDS

Ross said Gracia Burnham also phoned a friend Saturday and invited her over for pizza and then organized a picnic for New Tribes friends on the embassy grounds so she could say goodbye before leaving.

"She's really stretching the embassy people," Ross said. "She's making their heads spin over there."

Meisel said that in his visit with her, Burnham kept dipping her fingers in a bowl of water, concerned about the appearance of her nails. She repeated over and over, "It's so good to be free."

In their last days as hostages, the Burnhams were slipping and sliding in the muddy jungle as their captors tried to evade Philippine soldiers. Their last meal was uncooked rice and they spent the final hours before the raid in a hammock inside a blue tent, sheltered from the tropical rain.

Gracia Burnham's sister, Mary Jones, said that when rebels set up camp, they stationed the hostages inside tents between them and where they thought the military would attack. "So when the shooting started, they were immediately caught in the crossfire," said Jones, of Jamestown, Ohio. "They both knew that they were hit right away, but she [Gracia Burnham] said that she could still breathe fine, so she thought that she was OK."

Burnham told her sister that she crawled to her husband, noticed blood on his upper body and knew his wounds were more serious.

Nearby, the 42-year-old Yap was shot in the back, possibly while attempting to escape, but it was undetermined whose bullets hit her, said Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, commander of the southern Philippine forces.

Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, ground commander of the rescue operations, said troops found chrome-plated handcuffs attached to a dog chain with a padlock. The device was thought to have been used to restrain Martin Burnham, he said.

When the soldiers began treating Gracia Burnham's leg wound, she asked, "Who are you?" said Cpl. Rodelio Tuazon. They showed her their insignia, and she said, "For one year I have been with the bad guys. Now I am with the good guys. Don't leave me behind."

Using first-aid methods taught to them by the U.S. soldiers, the rescuers made a stretcher from their uniforms and carried Burnham out of the jungle to a clearing, where a U.S. helicopter picked her up.

When Burnham is reunited with her children, she will carry with her the letters and stories her husband wrote for the kids. The letters deal with memories of his life, his love for his children and the days spent as a hostage.

Burnham may have had a premonition days before his death that he might not survive, Carolina said, adding: "Martin told her to relay the letters to their children when she gets home."

LETTERS RETRIEVED

When Gracia Burnham was airlifted from the misty jungle, she left the letters with an army officer. She later reminded U.S. officials to get the letters back.

Army Col. Roland Detabali flew back Saturday to the area near the coastal town of Sirawai to retrieve the letters, to be returned along with pictures of the Burnham family that the couple kept in captivity.

When she returns to Rose Hill, a farming town of 3,400, Gracia Burnham will find that her children, who have been living with their grandparents since July, have tried to live as normal lives as three children can with their parents held hostage by terrorists.

Saturday, at the Rose Hill Little League game, Zach Burnham, wearing No. 10 for the Red Team, walked, stole second and third bases, and scored when a walk forced in the run.

For a short time, life was as it should be in Rose Hill: children playing baseball to the cheers of teammates and adults in the stands. But it wasn't really the way it should be. In the stands was Zach's uncle, not his father.

"He missed last week's game," said Doug Burnham, "so we figured he should come out today since he made the commitment to play."
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June 9, 2002, Washington Post, Philippine Leader Orders Troops To Kill Rebels, by Philip P. Pan,

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered new troops into the jungles of the southern Philippines on Saturday to pursue and kill fleeing Muslim rebels, as her military commanders rejected mounting criticism of a rescue operation that left two hostages dead, including a U.S. missionary.

"We will forge on with tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," Arroyo said, referring to the elusive band of guerrillas that had held Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, Kan., and local nurse Deborah Yap hostage for more than a year. Philippine troops rescued Gracia on Friday, but her husband and Yap were killed during the battle and Gracia was shot in the leg.

Rolio Golez, Arroyo's national security adviser, said the military will launch an all-out offensive involving "search-and-destroy missions" to crush the Abu Sayyaf, now that the group could no longer use the hostages as human shields. "Without the hostages, the rules of the game have changed drastically," he said. "This means we won't have to hold our fire."

Meanwhile, Philippine military officials said they had not yet determined whether Martin Burnham, 42, and Yap, 48, had been executed by the rebels or killed in the crossfire. On Saturday, a senior Philippine official said Burnham had been killed in crossfire, by Philippine soldiers.

The U.S. Embassy apparently accepts this scenario. "It does not matter which bullet killed Martin Burnham because we hold Abu Sayyaf fully responsible," Ambassador Francis Ricciardone Jr. told the Philippine national security adviser, Roilo Golez.

As a rough picture of the rescue effort emerged from interviews with the soldiers involved, opposition lawmakers began to describe it as a disaster, criticizing the military for not providing the soldiers with training in hostage operations and questioning whether they had a coordinated rescue plan or simply opened fire and hoped for the best.

"It's a tragedy, a mess, a terrible mess," said Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, the Senate majority leader, calling for an investigation into the operation. "In all honesty, I don't think they had the proper training. And I doubt they had a clear plan about how to deal with the situation if they actually found the hostages."

As a key part of the Bush administration's global war on terrorism, more than 1,200 U.S. troops have been assigned to train and advise the Philippine military in its protracted campaign against the Abu Sayyaf. But the elite scout ranger company that caught up with the rebels Friday had received only basic training in areas such as marksmanship, combat maneuvers and first aid instead of in sophisticated rescue techniques, U.S. and Philippine officials said.

The U.S. military has provided one Philippine light-reaction company with specialized counterterrorism training and equipped it with night-vision goggles and more-advanced weapons. But the unit was searching in a different part of the southern island of Mindanao on Friday and was too far away to be summoned when the rangers spotted the Abu Sayyaf, said Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, chief of the Philippine southern command.

As a result, Carolina said, the scout rangers were ordered to attempt a rescue before the rebels could slip away as they have repeatedly in the past year.

In interviews, the soldiers said the clash occurred in a mountainous area thick with jungle. The 37 scout rangers had been tracking the rebels for hours, following a trail of footprints and discarded food. Rain forced the rebels to slow down, and the unit suddenly spotted them seeking shelter in a ravine.

The soldiers said they attempted to get as close as possible, crawling on the ground, and located the hostages before taking any action.

There are conflicting accounts of what happened next.

Several soldiers told reporters they were still maneuvering for position about 20 to 30 yards away when one of the Abu Sayyaf fighters appeared to have spotted them. The soldiers said they opened fire, though they had yet to locate the hostages or determine whether they were with the group.

But Sgt. Rodney Magbanua, one of the rangers in the front of the squad, said that they spotted the hostages under a blue tent early on, surrounded by about 30 rebels. He said he and the others started shooting at the rebels after receiving the go-ahead from a ground commander.
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June 10, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Rescued Missionary Leaves Philippines, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

ROSE HILL, Kan. -- Rescued American hostage Gracia Burnham, her right leg heavily bandaged, left her home of 15 years in the Philippines early today for a long-awaited reunion with her three children here in Kansas.

In brief remarks before boarding a commercial jet, Burnham thanked her rescuers and supporters -- and had harsh words for her abductors.

"I return to the States this morning to rejoin my children and to put my life back together," she said. "We want to thank each and every one of you for every time you remembered us in prayer. We needed every single prayer you prayed for us during our ordeal in the jungle."

She said the Muslim guerrillas who held her and her husband hostage for more than a year should be brought to justice.

"They are not men of honor. They should be treated as common criminals," she said, her voice trembling.

The Burnhams had been working as missionaries for New Tribes Mission of Sanford when they were kidnapped while celebrating their anniversary at a resort May 27, 2001.

On Friday, after a year on the run with Abu Sayyaf rebels and a recent attempt by family to negotiate the Burnhams' release, Gracia Burnham, 43, was rescued in southern Zamboanga del Norte province during a gunbattle between guerrillas and a Philippine patrol that stumbled upon the rebel camp.

Her husband of 19 years, Martin Burnham, and another hostage, Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, were killed. Gracia Burnham was shot in the thigh.

Early today at Manila's airport, Gracia Burnham was freshly made up, her hair neatly coiffed. She presented a sharp contrast to the tired, ill images of her on videotape taken while she was held captive.

"We especially want to thank the military men, the Americans, the Filipinos who risked and even gave their lives to rescue us," she said.

She is expected to arrive in Kansas this afternoon and be immediately reunited with her children and other family members. She is being accompanied on the flight by her sister, Mary Jones.

Martin Burnham's body, which is at a U.S. military base in Japan for an autopsy, is to be flown home by military aircraft Wednesday. A funeral is scheduled for Friday.

LAST WORDS TO CONGREGATION

On Sunday, the Burnhams' family attended services at the Rose Hill Bible Church outside Wichita, Kan. They joined about 70 parishioners, who heard about the last time Martin Burnham spoke to the congregation, during a visit.

Two days before he and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines, Martin Burnham had told church members that his work as a pilot for New Tribes Mission was grounded in his desire to follow the Lord no matter where it took him.

Despite extremely difficult conditions and pressure from his captors to convert to Islam, Martin Burnham remained faithful to the end, Pastor Robert Varner said.

"Martin was doing God's will until the end," Varner said.

Martin and Gracia Burnham's 12-year-old daughter, Mindy, sang in the choir as her two brothers -- Zach, 11, and Jeff, 15 -- and other family members joined parishioners. Martin's brother, Doug, led the congregation in joyful hymns.

U.S. TROOPS URGED TO STAY

In Manila, the Philippine defense secretary Sunday urged the United States to extend and expand joint military exercises aimed at fighting terrorism and to resist scaling back now that Muslim rebels are no longer holding American hostages.

Angelo Reyes called on Washington to prolong a major training mission that began earlier this year and to allow special-operations advisers to join the search for the rebels.

"We need more, and we need continued support and assistance from the United States in the fight against terrorism," Reyes said, arguing that militant groups linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network remain a threat in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. "It's not over. When you think it's over, that's when they hit."

Since the beginning of the year, about 1,200 U.S. troops have been participating in joint exercises aimed at helping the Philippine military crush the Abu Sayyaf. The mission is the largest deployment in the U.S.-led war on terrorism outside Central Asia.

U.S. military officials have said the training exercises would continue despite the rescue. But the effort is scheduled to end July 31, and it is unclear how the elimination of the hostage factor will affect deliberations over extending it.

RISK LIMITS U.S. MISSION

The mission has had limited success. Philippine soldiers have shown improvement in basic skills such as marksmanship and small-unit maneuvering, officials said. And U.S. military engineers have made it easier for the Philippine military to move around by building several new roads on the southern island of Basilan, a key Abu Sayyaf hideout.

But U.S. and Philippine troops have expressed frustration because training has been largely restricted to battalion-level programs inside Philippine military bases.

Special-operations advisers were originally scheduled to accompany Philippine troops on patrols into the jungle, but the United States has not approved that phase of the operation, in part because of the risk of U.S. casualties.

Reyes would not speculate on whether better training or equipment might have allowed Philippine troops to save all the hostages during Friday's rescue, which has been criticized as a disaster by some opposition lawmakers. The soldiers involved in the battle were still being debriefed, Reyes said.
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June 11, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Joy Fills Missionary's Homecoming,

Gracia Burnham Saw Her Children For The First Time In More Than A Year And Asked For Prayers For The Family, by Robert Perez, Sentinel Staff Writer,

ROSE HILL, Kan. -- It seemed as if the whole town of 3,400 people turned out Monday evening to welcome home missionary Gracia Burnham.

"We love you, Gracia," the crowd screamed as the 43-year-old woman, who was injured in the Philippine jungle shootout Friday that killed her husband, was wheeled outside. "I love you, too," Burnham yelled.

Just hours earlier, Burnham had been reunited with her three children, whom she hadn't seen since being taken hostage in the Philippines more than a year ago.

"This must be one of the happiest days of my whole life," Burnham said.

The reunion at Gate 60A at the Kansas City International Airport was filled with smiles, long embraces and words of praise for Martin Burnham, who died during the gunbattle between their Muslim captors and Philippine troops.

"We needed every single prayer," Gracia Burnham said in an airport statement. "A very bad thing happened to Martin and I when we were taken hostage. But we want everyone to know that God was good to us every single day of our captivity."

Then she added in a steady voice, "Martin was a source of strength to all the hostages. He was a good man, and he died well."

Minutes before the reunion, the Burnhams' three children waited anxiously in a glassed-in area near the Northwest Airlines gate. It had been 377 days since they had seen their mother -- an ordeal filled with threats by the Abu Sayyaf captors that the missionaries would be executed.

It took 14 minutes for the other passengers to leave Flight 209 before the children saw their mother being pushed up the ramp.

After a moment's hesitation, the three ran toward her -- first Zach and then Mindy and finally Jeff. Each child hugged their mother for several seconds as she smiled and looked intently at them.

"It's wonderful to see her home with the family," said an uncle, John Burnham, who was videotaping the reunion.

Noticing the large crowd of friends at the airport, Burnham shouted: "I love you guys" before heading to a private room "to hug my family again."

Earlier, family members said Martin Burnham, 42, may have saved his wife's life by falling on her after he was shot.

"She thought she lay there for about 20 minutes," Gracia Burnham's younger sister, Mary Jones, said in a television interview before Burnham left Manila for the 20-hour journey home. "She said it was very peaceful, and she was glad that she was able to be with him when it happened."

Martin Burnham's body is expected to be flown to Wichita, Kan., on Wednesday, and the funeral service is scheduled for Friday.

The couple had worked as missionaries in the Philippines since 1986 for the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission. He was a pilot, flying supplies and missionaries, and she handled radio communications. They were abducted while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at a resort.

Martin Burnham had tried to convert his Muslim captors to Christianity during their captivity, New Tribes Mission officials said.

They said the organization had managed to send letters and food parcels directly to the band holding the couple, but they would not disclose how.

"We might not leave this jungle alive, but at least we can leave this world serving the Lord with gladness," Gracia Burnham said her husband told her, according to New Tribes.

Before she left the airport for the drive to Martin Burnham's parents' home in Rose Hill, Gracia Burnham asked people to continue praying for her and her children "as we begin to rebuild our lives."
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June 12, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, President Commends Troops,

LAMITAN, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saluted troops who rescued a U.S. missionary and mourned the deaths of two other hostages during a tour Tuesday through southern islands terrorized by Muslim guerrillas. Scores of soldiers patrolled the streets, and two tanks guarded the Roman Catholic school where Arroyo met with military and local officials in this town on Basilan island -- a base for the Abu Sayyaf rebels. END
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June 13, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary's Body Arrives Home,

WICHITA, Kan. -- The body of kidnapped American missionary Martin Burnham, who was killed Friday during a rescue attempt in the Philippine jungle, arrived home Wednesday. Martin and Gracia Burnham had been held by Muslim rebels for more than a year when Philippine troops stumbled across their camp. In the firefight between soldiers and rebels, Martin Burnham, 42, was killed and his wife, Gracia Burnham, 43, was shot in the thigh. Burnham was a pilot in the Philippines for New Tribes Mission of Sanford for more than 15 years.
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June 16, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionaries Know Changing Face Of Danger, by Jim Toner, Sentinel Columnist,

Missionary work has always been a dangerous business. It is just the nature of the danger that changes. The staff members and residents of NTM Homes, the New Tribes Mission retirement center on Celery Avenue east of Sanford, know this well. Over the years, they have seen global terrorist organizations and drug traffickers replace violent tribes, remote locations and exotic diseases as the greatest perils. The latest example is the death of Martin Burnham in a shootout between Philippine troops and his kidnappers, members of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic fundamentalist group tied to al-Qaeda.
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June 18, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Gunmen Fire At U.S. Troops In Philippines,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Unidentified gunmen opened fire Monday at U.S. troops deployed on the southern Philippine island of Basilan, stronghold of Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, but no one was injured, Philippine military officials said. It was the first known attack on U.S. forces, deployed on Basilan since February to help train Filipino soldiers in fighting the guerrilla group linked to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
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July 4, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Anti-rebel Fight Was Team Effort,

MANILA, Philippines -- Two major operations against Abu Sayyaf rebels were a combined triumph of American technology and local intelligence in the anti-terrorism fight, Philippine military officials said Wednesday. U.S.-provided tracing devices implanted in a backpack and boat used by the Muslim extremists helped in the rescue of an American hostage and later in the apparent death of a rebel leader, the officials said on condition of anonymity. END
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July 25, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Missionary Meets President, Says She'll Return To Kansas, by Gwyneth K. Shaw, Sentinel Staff Writer,

WASHINGTON -- Gracia Burnham walked into the U.S. Capitol and the White House on Wednesday, the gunshot wound on her leg nearly healed. The missionary who was held captive for more than a year in the Philippines said she and her children are ready to go back to Kansas for a rest and a chance to reconnect with each other. Burnham, freed in June by Philippine soldiers, expressed gratitude toward the government officials who devoted so much time working for her release. But the result is bittersweet -- her husband and fellow missionary Martin Burnham died in the firefight between Philippine troops and the Abu Sayyaf rebels who held them for so long.
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July 31, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, U.S.: Abu Sayyaf Off Island,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The head of U.S. forces in the southern Philippines says the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf has been pushed out of Basilan, a jungle island that has been one of the main bases of the extremist group, which kidnapped U.S. missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham. American forces worked with Philippine soldiers on Basilan as part of a six-month counterterrorism exercise that ends today. A year ago, Philippine officials estimated Abu Sayyaf had about 1,200 followers on the island. END
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August 2, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Sabaya Dead, Officials Say,

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine military says it has no doubt that a leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group is dead. They say he was last seen sinking into the sea after being shot at least twice, including in the back at close range, as he tried to swim to shore a half-mile away. But no body was ever found for Abu Sabaya, the group's chief spokesman, or two fellow guerrillas reportedly killed in a June 21 clash, sparking persistent rumors that the man who led a yearlong kidnapping spree that left 20 hostages dead, including two Americans, may have survived. END
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September 23, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Army Kills 4 Muslim Rebel Extremists,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Army troops killed at least four Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels today after stumbling on their camp in the southern Philippines, an official said. The clash in the hilly outskirts of Basilan island's Isabela city shattered a months-long calm in the island province that was largely attributed to a U.S.-backed military offensive that decimated the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. Soldiers scouring Basilan's hinterlands for Abu Sayyaf remnants found a guerrilla camp Sunday. END
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October 3, 2002, Los Angeles Times, Bomb Blast Kills U.S. Soldier On Philippine Street, by Richard C. Paddock and Al Jacinto, Foreign Correspondents,

Terrorists Were Blamed For The Explosion In Which A Filipino Also Died.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- An American soldier and at least one Filipino were killed Wednesday evening when a bomb went off on a street frequented by U.S. and Philippine troops in this turbulent southern city.

The American, who was identified as an Army master sergeant, was the first member of the American military in the Philippines to die in such a blast since the Pentagon sent U.S. troops to the Asian nation early this year to aid government forces fighting terrorism.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast, which injured an American soldier and about two dozen other people, most civilians. Philippine officials blamed the explosion on terrorists.

The names of the two Americans were being withheld pending notification of kin, Pentagon and U.S. Pacific Command officials in Honolulu said. The soldiers were returning from a mission and had stopped in a market area across the street from the Camp Emrile-Malagutay military base, about two miles from the main base. There were reports that a second Filipino was killed in the blast, and that one of the dead was the bomber.

About 1,000 U.S. soldiers were sent here in January to help train Philippine troops in anti-terror techniques to combat the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic gang of kidnappers with ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Meanwhile, in the largest ground operation in Afghanistan in six months, up to 2,000 U.S. soldiers are searching the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan for Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts.

The troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are part of a new strategy that puts more regular soldiers into the hunt for enemy fighters while lessening the strain on special-operations units.

The soldiers are combing an area of Paktia province that borders Pakistan and has long been a focus of U.S. efforts to rid the country of members of the terrorist network and its Taliban allies. Afghan President Hamid Karzai suggested during a visit to Qatar over the weekend that deposed Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar might be hiding along the Pakistani border.
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October 19, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Bus Bomb Kills At Least 3, Injures 23 In Manila Suburb,

QUEZON CITY, Philippines -- A bomb tore through a passenger bus in a Manila suburb Friday night, killing at least three people and injuring 23 -- the latest in a series of bombings this month in a jittery country where U.S.-trained troops are battling a Muslim rebel group linked to al-Qaeda. There were no immediate suspects or claims of responsibility, police said. The passenger who took the explosive onto the bus was thought to be among the dead. The explosion in Quezon City came a day after two deadly bombings in the southern Philippines and hours after a grenade blast in the capital's financial district.
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October 23, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippines Nabs 5 Suspects,

MANILA, Philippines -- Five alleged members of the Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf, arrested today as suspects in a deadly series of bombings in the southern Philippines, "were virtually caught in the act" of preparing for another attack, the president said. Officials said the men admitted taking part in the bombings of two department stores last Thursday in downtown Zamboanga that killed seven people and injured 152 and a blast at a Roman Catholic shrine Sunday night that killed one and injured 18.
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November 15, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Police Say Man Planned Series Of Attacks,

MANILA, Philippines -- Police have captured a leader of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group that planned to use trucks laden with explosives to bomb the U.S. Embassy, the Manila stock exchange and other targets, the Philippine government said Thursday. Abdulmukim Edris, head of the Abu Sayyaf's explosives team, told police the group had planned to use cellular telephones to detonate ammonium nitrate bombs in a series of attacks starting this month, military Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin Defensor said. Edris, who has been accused in a string of deadly bombings in the southern Philippines, was captured Tuesday in suburban Pasay city. He faces murder and kidnapping charges. END
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December 1, 2002, New York Times, U.S. Considers Expansion Of Military Role In Southern Philippines, by Eric Schmitt,

WASHINGTON -- The United States and the Philippines may soon start a new military-training operation against Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines that would involve 300 to 400 American troops, including many on jungle combat patrols in a risky hunt for a resurgent guerrilla force, military officials say.

The proposed exercise, which could begin in January, reflects the Pentagon's growing concern that militant Islamic networks pose an increasing threat to Americans and U.S. interests in Southeast Asia, and that a training mission with Philippine forces earlier this year failed to quell the Muslim guerrilla movement.

The new operation would be an increase in the Pentagon's commitment to combating terrorism in the Philippines by shifting hundreds of troops now scheduled for classroom or routine training in the northern Philippines to a combat zone in the south. The exercise would involve special-operations troops, as well as Army and Marine forces, during much of next year.

No decisions have been made, officials said, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has directed the military's Pacific Command and Joint Staff to draw up plans for a sequel to the counterterrorism training mission that U.S. forces carried out on Basilan Island in the southern Philippines earlier this year.

About 1,300 U.S. troops, including 160 special-operations soldiers, completed the six-month mission on Basilan in July. Those exercises were intended to wipe out Abu Sayyaf, a small band of Islamic radicals who have seized and beheaded American hostages.

But only one principal Abu Sayyaf leader was killed during that operation, and the group's other leaders have reorganized in Sulu Province. While the American-led mission effectively drove Abu Sayyaf from Basilan, the U.S.-trained Philippine forces have not sustained the momentum. Abu Sayyaf has been tied to a string of recent bombings in the southern Philippines, including an explosion last month that killed an American Green Beret.
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December 26, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Blast Death Toll Hits 16,

MANILA, Philippines -- The death toll from a Christmas Eve bomb attack outside the home of a town mayor rose to 16 on Wednesday as authorities searched for clues in the blast. Fifteen others were wounded. The army said a Muslim rebel had been arrested, but police denied it and said it was not yet clear if the separatist guerrillas, who have been fighting for self-rule in the region for three decades, were responsible.
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December 28, 2002, Orlando Sentinel, Attacks Leave 1 Dead, 6 Hurt In Southern Philippines,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Police blamed Muslim rebels Friday for a deadly ambush on a Canadian company's workers and their families in the southern Philippines. Separate grenade and bomb attacks in the same region killed a teacher and seriously wounded six other people. About 40 gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying dozens of Filipino employees of Toronto Ventures Inc. Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said among documents and weapons recovered at the scene was a pass carrying the name of a Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel commander.
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February 19, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. May Use Special Forces To Fight Philippine Rebels,

WASHINGTON -- The United States is negotiating details of a major new counterterror operation against Muslim rebels in the Philippines that could include involvement of U.S. special-operations troops in combat, officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, think they have new information showing a stronger link than previously known between the Philippine rebels and other international terrorist groups. A month of talks between the two governments has centered on sending U.S. special-operations troops to Jolo as advisers and for possible joint operations -- including combat -- against the rebels.
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February 20, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Extremist Reported Dead From Battle Wounds,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- A top commander of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf reportedly died Wednesday from wounds suffered during a government assault on his hide-out a day earlier, a military commander said. Mujib Susukan, who has a $92,500 bounty on his head, was shot in a clash outside Talipao town on Jolo island Tuesday.
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March 1, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Army Is Given 90 Days To Defeat Rebels,

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday gave the military 90 days to defeat the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, and the head of the armed forces warned that commanders who fail will be replaced. The president's order came as Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes met U.S. officials in Washing- ton to discuss details of an upcoming military exercise between Filipino and U.S. troops on the island of Jolo.
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March 18, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Muslim Rebels Kill 8 In Van, Philippines Officials Say,

COTABATO, Philippines -- Muslim rebels ambushed a civilian van and killed eight passengers in the southern Philippines today, the military and a survivor said. Rebels denied involvement in the killings. The ambush took place on a section of highway connecting the cities of General Santos and Cotabato on the main southern island of Mindanao. The victims, all men, were shot dead after being separated from the women, survivor Rommel Gamiao, 24, said.
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April 8, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Rebel Factions Meet In Libya, Seal Reunification Pact,

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Philippine rebel factions meeting in Libya sealed a reunification agreement Monday, according to a communique released at the end of three days of talks. Libyan officials brokered the agreement between at least five factions of the oldest Muslim rebel movement in the Philippines -- the Moro National Liberation Front. The deal was made in a bid to strengthen a 1996 peace agreement between rebel forces and the Philippine government.
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May 7, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Hostage: Captors, Philippine Army Colluded,

WICHITA, Kan. -- An American missionary held hostage for more than a year has accused the Philippine military of colluding with her captors, saying a general demanded a 50 percent cut of the ransom. In her newly released book, In the Presence of My Enemies, Gracia Burnham described her 377-day ordeal at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. It ended with a bloody army rescue that left her husband, Martin, and a Filipino nurse dead. She said members of the Philippine military provided food for her captors. END

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December 8, 2003, Orlando Sentinel, Officials: Abu Sayyaf Group Leader Nabbed In Philippines,

MANILA, Philippines -- A senior Muslim guerrilla commander suspected of involvement in the 2001 kidnapping of Western tourists from a Malaysian resort was captured in a clash with soldiers in the southern Philippines on Sunday, the military said. Galib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, the leader of a faction of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremist group, was wounded in the leg during a gunfight in the town of Indanan on Jolo island, according to the island's military chief, Col. Alexander Yapching, and armed forces spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.

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January 18, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Renews Travel Warning About Terrorism In Philippines,

WASHINGTON -- The government has revised and updated a warning to Americans about terror in the Philippines, urging U.S. travelers to "exercise great caution" there. The State Department announcement renewed an announcement issued in July. The agency said terrorist activity in the Philippines remains high, including several bombings in Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines. The department singled out two terror groups, the communist New People's Army and the Abu Sayyaf, which the Philippine government says is loosely aligned with the al-Qaeda network.
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February 29, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Extremists Claim Explosion In Philippines,

180 Missing

MARIVELES, Philippines -- The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility today for an explosion on a ferry that sparked a fire and left 180 people missing, according to a radio report. The Radio Mindanao Network said that group spokesman Abu Sulaiman said the Friday fire was in revenge for incidents of violence in Mindanao and victimization of Muslim women. The fire occurred the same day that two suspected Abu Sayyaf members were convicted of kidnapping an American in 2000 and another was arraigned in a separate mass abduction.
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March 31, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Suspect Admits To Planting TNT On Ferry, Killing 100,

MANILA, Philippines -- A suspected Muslim extremist told police interrogators that he planted TNT in a television set on a ferry that caught fire last month, killing more than 100 people, a security official said Tuesday. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier announced the arrest of Redendo Cain Dellosa, saying the Abu Sayyaf member confessed to bombing the Superferry 14 on Feb. 27 in Manila Bay. Dellosa was arrested with three other militants suspected of plotting a Madrid-style terror attack in Manila, Arroyo said. END
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April 2, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Security Arrests 4 Turks In Terrorism Probe,

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine security forces have arrested four Turkish nationals suspected of having ties with international terror groups, the military said Thursday. The men were arrested Wednesday night in Cotabato City, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, home to a large Muslim population. The men were flown to Manila for interrogation. Abu Sayyaf, one of four Muslim militant groups fighting for an independent state in the southern Philippines, said Thursday that it was ready to hit the capital, Manila, and had bombers eager to die. END
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April 7, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Islamists Trained Abu Sayyaf On Bombs, Ex-hostage Says,

MANILA, Philippines -- Indonesian Islamic militants taught dozens of Abu Sayyaf recruits how to make cell-phone-triggered bombs and other terror skills while dodging helicopters and troops in a jungle camp last year, one of several former hostages told The Associated Press. About 40 men completed the bomb-making course, and 60 were taught sniping and combat techniques from late 2002 to the middle of 2003 by two unidentified Indonesians, who officials think were members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, the ex-hostage said. END
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April 9, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Filipino Troops Kill Muslim Militant Leader, 5 Followers,

MANILA, Philippines -- A leader of the Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf and five of his men were killed during a firefight with government troops on a southern Philippine island Thursday, officials said. A platoon of Philippine Scout Rangers, who had been following the trail of Hamsiraji Sali and his men, caught up with them on Basilan island, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold about 550 miles south of Manila. Four soldiers were wounded in the clash, said a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero. Sali had been indicted in the United States in connection with the kidnapping of four Americans, two of whom died. END
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April 13, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, Manhunt Heats Up After Philippine Inmates Escape,

MANILA, The Philippines -- Fifty-three prison inmates in the southern Philippines, including members of the Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf, escaped during the weekend, but many have been captured or killed, officials said Monday. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday ordered the military and the police to intensify the manhunt operations on the island province of Basilan, about 550 miles south of Manila, where the prison is located and Abu Sayyaf is based. END
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February 15, 2005, Los Angeles Times, Bombs In Philippines Kill 9, Injure Scores, by Richard C. Paddock and Al Jacinto,

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Three bombs apparently planted by Islamic militants exploded in the southern Philippines and the Manila financial district Monday evening, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 100. The extremist Abu Sayyaf group claimed responsibility for the blasts, calling them a "Valentine's gift" for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. "Our latest operations -- planned and executed with precision by the gallant warriors of Islam -- is our continuing response to the Philippine government's atrocities committed against Muslims everywhere," said Abu Solaiman, an Abu Sayyaf leader, in a phone call to a radio station.

The bombs, which exploded within an hour of one another, were apparently in retaliation for a government crackdown on Muslim rebels on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, long a militant stronghold.

Thousands of government troops aided by aerial bombing have been battling Abu Sayyaf fighters and allied Muslim separatists on the remote island for more than a week.

The first of the bombs Monday went off outside a shopping mall in the southern Philippine city of General Santos about 6:30 p.m. Police said the bomb was hidden in a bag at a taxi stand near an entrance. The blast killed at least five people and injured more than three dozen others.

Moments later, a second bomb exploded at a bus terminal in Davao City, killing a 12-year-old boy and injuring at least eight other people.

About 20 minutes after the blast, Solaiman called DZBB radio and said Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the blasts. "You can attribute this to us," he said.

"There is one more to come."

About 7:30 p.m., a bomb went off on a bus beneath an elevated train station near the Intercontinental Hotel in the Manila financial district of Makati. The bus exploded into flames, killing at least three people and injuring more than 60.

In 2001, Abu Sayyaf raided a tourist resort on the island of Palawan and kidnapped a group of hostages including three Americans, among them Gracia and Martin Burnham, missionaries with the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission. Gracia Burnham was wounded but was rescued during an army operation June 7, 2002. Her husband and a Filipino captive were killed in the crossfire.
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August 28, 2005, Orlando Sentinel, Ferry blast injures at least 30 in southern Philippines,

MANILA, Philippines -- A bomb hidden in a trash can exploded on a ferry in the southern Philippines as it was loading passengers today, injuring at least 30 people, military officials said. The region had been on alert for terrorist attacks. The ferry was docked at Lamitan, on the island of Basilan, preparing to depart for nearby Zamboanga. The bomb injured nine children, and at least six people were badly burned. The south is home to the country's Muslim minority and a decades-old separatist insurgency. A military helicopter picked up five victims and took them to a hospital in Zamboanga. END
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January 7, 2007, Orlando Sentinel, Military says 6 Abu Sayyaf rebels killed in Philippines,

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine troops on Saturday killed six members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, including one wanted by the United States for attacks on Americans, a military spokesman said. Philippine navy and army special-forces troops backed by marines clashed with rebels in waters off Panglima Sugala in southern Tawi-Tawi province Saturday, killing all six gunmen on a boat, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said. One of those killed, Judnam Jamalul, is among Abu Sayyaf members wanted by the United States for attacks on American citizens. END
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July 12, 2007, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Philippine marines killed in clash with Muslim rebels, [Dead Link]

MANILA, Philippines -- Muslim insurgents ambushed a Philippine marine convoy searching for a kidnapped Italian priest and killed at least 14 troops, beheading at least 10 of them, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The chaotic, seven-hour firefight took place in dense jungle on the southern island of Basilan. The government has touted Basilan as a success story in the war on terrorism since U.S. troops carried out yearlong counterterror training exercises there in 2001 aimed at helping oust the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
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August 12, 2008, Orlando Sentinel, Troops retake 2 villages from rebels,

SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES -- Philippine troops, backed by helicopter gunships, regained control of two southern villages from Muslim rebels Monday and pressed ahead with a massive assault to clear 13 others, officials said. At least one soldier and seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas have been killed since nearly 3,000 troops and police launched the attacks Sunday. The assault, backed by artillery and rocket-firing helicopters, came after the guerrillas defied an ultimatum to withdraw from five towns in North Cotabato province, military vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna said.

The fighting has forced about 130,000 villagers to flee their homes. It coincided with a crucial development in continuing peace talks between the government and the rebels, who have been waging a bloody insurgency for self-rule in the southern Philippines. Separately Monday, an additional 300 guerrillas -- also suspected of belonging to the Moro group -- attacked Basilan province's Tipo Tipo township, about 185 miles southwest of North Cotabato, officials said. END
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August 13, 2009, Orlando Sentinel, Military, extremists clash,

PHILIPPINES MANILA -- A Philippine general says 23 soldiers have been killed in fierce clashes that also left at least 20 al-Qaida-linked militants dead in the country's restive south. Regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino says about 400 army, marines and police commandos launched simultaneous, predawn attacks Wednesday on two Abu Sayyaf extremist group encampments on Basilan Island, sparking fierce fighting that continued to rage late in the day. Dolorfino said Thursday that 20 marines and three soldiers, including two officers, were killed in the clashes. Military officials say troops targeted Abu Sayyaf chieftains Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama, but it was not clear whether they were among the slain. END
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September 30, 2009, Orlando Sentinel, Bomb kills 2 GIs,

MANILA -- Two U.S. soldiers were killed Tuesday in a roadside bomb believed planted by militants linked to al-Qaida, U.S. officials said. They were the first American troops to die in an attack in the Philippines in seven years.

A Filipino marine also was killed and two others were wounded in the blast on Jolo Island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf militants. The Philippine military suspects the group was behind the attack.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that the soldiers' vehicle hit an improvised explosive device while they were conducting a resupply mission for a school construction project on Jolo. END

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June 20, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 'Missing' Jordanian journalist, TV crew OK, say authorities, by Julie Alipala and Manila / Asia News Network,

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) -- One of Jordanian TV journalist Baker Atyani's Filipino companions has called his family and employer in Taguig City in Metro Manila to let them know they are OK.

"They are not under duress," Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told reporters yesterday.

Atyani and his Filipino crew -- audio man Ramelito Vela and cameraman Rolando Letrero -- may not have been taken hostage after all even though they were with the Abu Sayyaf terror group in Sulu (south Philippines), Robredo said.

Asked what he meant by that, Robredo said the Jordanian and his crew were not under threat even though they were in the custody of Abu Sayyaf faction leader Nadzmir Alih.

"They appear to be free to go anytime," he said.

Robredo came to this city to oversee the information-gathering on Atyani, Vela and Letrero after they disappeared from their hostel on the island of Jolo on June 12.

Atyani is the Al Arabiya television network bureau chief for Southeast Asia while Letrero and Vela joined him from Manila on this assignment. They left their hostel in Jolo, Sulu, early in the morning of June 12 and have not been heard from since.

Robredo said his impression from the message of the Filipino crew man, whom he did not identify, was that they were being treated well by the Abu Sayyaf.

"The Jordanian appears to have made a good deal with the interviewee (Alih)," he said.

Chief Superintendent Mario Avenido, chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police, said they learned this was not Atyani's first time in Mindanao.

"He had made 12 previous visits to Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and even speaks some of the local dialects," Avenido said.

He believed Atyani and his crew decided to stay in Sulu longer so they could come out with a very good documentary on the Abu Sayyaf.

"He is a professional and the boss of a news agency and he wants to come out with one good report," Avenido said.

Avenido said he was hoping that Atyani and his crew would turn up soon "to end this problem."

He said from what the authorities had gathered, the Jordanian and the two Filipinos were not being deprived of their rights.

"Their rights are not being violated. They are not being subjected to mental or physical deprivation. In short, their situation is normal," he said.

Avenido said the three were confined to one area because "they are doing a documentary."

Both Robredo and Avenido denied that Alih had demanded 50 million pesos (US$1.18 million) for the release of the three.

"There is no truth to that," Robredo said.

Avenido said the ransom claim "originated in Manila" but would not reveal its source.

He said the police were looking for Atyani's contacts in Sulu, "because if they have been kidnapped we will know who to pin down."

The Philippine Palace, meanwhile, said yesterday it could not confirm a report that Atyani was a conduit of the al-Qaeda international terror group to the homegrown Abu Sayyaf, but the police were looking into it.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace had "no information" about Atyani having scheduled a visit to the Abu Sayyaf as reported by an unnamed ranking government source to the Inquirer the other day. -- With a report from Christine O. Avendano
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June 21, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Editorial: Double speak,
Manila / Asia News Network,

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) -- The ambiguous language employed by authorities when speaking to reporters about the case of Jordanian journalist Baker Abdulla Atyani and his Filipino crew reflects the uneasy state of affairs in some parts of the South. Since they were last seen leaving their hostel in Jolo early on June 12, they have been variously described as missing but not abducted; "in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf" but not confirmed as being held hostage; and in the custody of a faction of the bandit group but not under duress.

The latest, as of this writing, is that they are "somewhere in Patikul" and "safe and not threatened." So far, only Octavio Dinampo, a professor of the Mindanao State University and himself a former kidnap victim, has categorically pronounced the case as an abduction. He described the authorities as "in denial."

Atyani is now close to being declared persona non grata, with Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo saying that once found, the bureau chief for Southeast China of the Al Arabiya TV news network should be sent home and banned from returning to the Philippines for interviewing the Abu Sayyaf without informing the government.

The fact is that Sulu authorities were caught flat-footed by the unscheduled departure of Atyani, audio man Ramelito Vela and cameraman Rolando Letrero from their hostel. That they could not be immediately located after their "disappearance" continues to be an embarrassment to both local and national officials and the police.

Jolo remains blighted by its reputation as a dangerous place for foreigners and other outsiders, even if they are Filipino, as witness the case of the abduction of TV journalist Ces Drilon and her companions including her crew and Dinampo, in 2008. That Atyani and his crew managed to go off by themselves clearly amounted to a failure of intelligence on the local government's part.

Journalists will constantly test the limits in the pursuit of their profession -- that, so to speak, is the nature of the beast. Drilon pushed the envelope, was abducted by an armed group and held for a time, necessitating a government search and the expenditure of public and private funds, to speak nothing of the anguish of the families involved. Atyani is presumably in similar circumstances.

Operating on the precept that reasonable men and women should be responsible for their actions, these journalists should be held to account for recklessness, gross naivete and endangerment of others, among other things. But suspicions are now being aired that Atyani is "a terrorist cell contact" and "the favoured journalist of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden," and that his kidnapping was a ploy for him to deliver funds to the "[financially] pressured" Abu Sayyaf!

This accusation, made by a Manila-based official speaking without attribution, smells of racism and obviously stems from Atyani's having bagged an interview with Bin Laden only months before the terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

It also partakes of the time-worn practice of blaming a victim to deflect accountability from officialdom. The activist priest Fr. Robert Reyes is correct to chide officials for disclaiming responsibility "simply because a Muslim journalist gets into a dangerous area without informing the authorities."

The case of Atyani and his crew also trains the spotlight on the almost forgotten abductions that continue to give the South a bad name. At last count, there are eight men being held by armed groups in Western Mindanao, five of them foreigners including two European bird watchers who had journeyed to Tawi-Tawi in the hope of seeing the rare Sulu hornbill. It's unclear if the eight men's captors are members of the Abu Sayyaf or rogue elements of organisations with Moro constituencies (it has been observed, wryly, that these groups, like business corporations, have interlocking memberships and leaderships).

As of the first semester of 2010, according to a military document, the Abu Sayyaf had an estimated 400 members with "a little over 300 firearms" and was "constricted in the hinterlands of Basilan and Sulu" with "a modicum of presence in some urban centers in Mindanao."

It appears that while the bandit group is often described as a spent force, it is quite capable of mischief. The prospect of ransom is ever tantalising, and past abductions that generated huge sums that purportedly benefited even government officials and their footmen are legendary. (They don't call it ransom these days, just "expenses for board and lodging.")
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