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MAY 12, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 18 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK

Hostages To Terror
By STUART WHITMORE

It started with a kidnapping and ended in a war. As the world focused its attention to the southern Philippines following a brace of kidnappings by extremist Muslim groups, violence erupted May 3 between rebels and Philippine government forces, leaving scores dead.

On the island of Basilan, a hostage crisis that began on March 20 ended bloodily when the Philippine army attempted to rescue 29 people, including 17 school children, being held by the small but radical Islamist organization Abu Sayyaf. As troops stormed their camp, retreating rebels opened fire on the captives killing at least four of the adults - including Catholic priest Father Reol Gallardo. Fifteen of the hostages were freed, five of them suffering from bullet wounds, while ten remain unaccounted for.

The clash bodes ill for the fate of a group of 21, mostly foreign, holidaymakers seized by Abu Sayyaf on Easter Sunday from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan. Even before the attack on their Basilan base, Abu Sayyaf had threatened to decapitate two Western hostages unless the Philippine army retreated. Despite a tight military cordon around their camp on Jolo island, Abu Sayyaf fighters evaded government troops, escaping with their hostages to an unknown location. Claims by Abu Sayyaf that two of the captives had been killed in a May 2 shootout between the rebels and the army could not be substantiated. Government officials said no bodies or traces of blood were found at the abandoned camp.

A spokesman for Joesph Estrada said the Philippine president "deplored the killings" of the hostages by AbuSayyaf. Estrada called a late-night emergency meeting with his cabinet and security advisers after which the government pledged to continue with its current firm stance of not negotiating with the terrorists. Earlier in the day Abu Sayyaf leaders had made contact with the government for the first time, speaking directly with Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the telephone.

The double hostage crisis played out against a backdrop of widespread violence that engulfed the southern island of Mindanao, home to most of the Philippines' Muslim minority. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ratcheted up pressure on the government of under-fire President Estrada, unleashing a renewed wave of violence just three days after peace negotiations broke down.

The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group with 15,000 fighters, the MILF (which has no links to Abu Sayyaf) launched six rocket grenades at the main headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division adjoining Cotabato airport. The runway was closed and pilots had to scramble to evacuate several helicopter gunships parked on the airstrip. Three near-simultaneous bombings in the port city of General Santos forced Philippine Airlines to cancel all flights and killed at least one civilian, injuring dozens more.

MILF rebels also blocked Mindanao's major arteries, taking a bus-load of 70 passengers hostage on the highway linking General Santos to Cotabato to use as a human shield. Fifty were later freed while the remainder fled to safety during a firefight. The current clashes between the MILF and the armed forces have claimed approximately 80 lives, with most casualties on the rebel side.

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