| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| You Are Here: |
World News  |
| World |
|
Friday, August 23, 2002 - Web posted at 7:54:10 am GMT Philippines sends reinforcements to rebel islandJOLO, Philippines, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Philippine troops shelled a stronghold of Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden, hitting back after gunmen beheaded two Christian preachers, officials and residents said on Friday. But the military plans to give civilian officials time to negotiate the release of four women still held captive, military chief General Roy Cimatu told reporters. More than 1,000 reinforcements, including a crack company of U.S.-trained Light Reaction soldiers, are being sent to the remote island of Jolo, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, Cimatu told reporters while on a visit there. But troops will not launch a major operation for five days to allow negotiators to secure the release of the four Christian women, he said, adding that reinforcements of a battalion each of marines and scout rangers, or about 1,000 men, would arrive on Jolo later in the day. The Light Reaction Company was being flown in also on Friday, Cimatu said. Troops already on Jolo have fanned out across the rugged, Muslim-dominated island, but there were no reports of sightings of the Abu Sayyaf or of their captives. Residents fled areas of the island where the military launched mortar attacks on Thursday, Governor Yusop Jikiri, the top civilian official on the island, told reporters. There were no casualties in the shelling around the town of Patikul, the area where a gang of armed men led by the nephew of an Abu Sayyaf commander abducted eight people on Tuesday. The military also denied reports that the Abu Sayyaf's most visible leader, Abu Sabaya, was alive. Officials have said Sabaya was killed in a clash in June. A well-known Christian priest, Father Cirilo Nacorda, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper that Sabaya was seen by residents on the island of Basilan, which, along with Jolo, is a notorious Abu Sayyaf stronghold. "What I know is it was only Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected," Major-General Glicerio Sua told reporters. "Nacorda is making a Christ out of Sabaya." The reported killing of Sabaya was one of the major successes of the military's campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, which claims to be fighting for an independent homeland in the south of the Roman Catholic Philippines but is mainly engaged in kidnap for ransom. The United States has linked the group to the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, held responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and sent hundreds of its troops to the Philippines to train the military. U.S. forces formally ended their training at the end of July, and the Abu Sayyaf appeared to be on the retreat but the rebels have hit back this week, reminding authorities that they are still a threat and sending shivers through local financial markets. The guerrillas abducted eight people, including six Jehovah's Witnesses, after dragging them out of a minibus. They quickly released two Muslim guides from the group and beheaded two men among the captives. The victims' heads, wrapped in plastic, were found in a market in the main town of Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila. "We are operating right now," Lieutenant-General Ernesto Carolina, southern military commander, told reporters, referring to the military on Jolo. "There is no let-up. We have to get the hostages." REUTERS (NAMPA/REUTERS) |
  |
PO Box 20783 - Windhoek - 42 John Meinert Street Tel: +264 (61) 236970 - Fax: +264 (61) 233980 e-mail:info@namibian.com.na webmaster@namibian.com.na
|
