Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Sabaya, has been calling up government officials by phone since last week asking for war reparations for Muslims displaced by the September 16 military assault of the government against the group in southern Philippines, according to Sulu province Gov Abdusakur Tan.

Sabaya, who has been calling from an unknown hideout in Jolo or in Basilan, the southernmost part of Mindanao, "wanted the government to compensate for war damages for the Muslims who were displaced by the clashes between the Abu Sayyaf and the government troopers in Sulu," Tan said. He did not give the figures cited by Abu Sabaya.

Thousands of Muslims were displaced by the clashes. Many complained of human rights violations, resulting in the death of civilian Muslims. Refugees claimed soldiers torched their houses and tortured suspected Abu Sayyaf supporters and killed women and children who were relatives, or families of suspected Abu Sayyaf members. But the military has denied all accusations. Sabaya has been trying to reopen negotiations for the release of their American hostage Jeffrey Schilling, Tan said, adding: "Abu Sabaya also wrote me a letter asking me to tell President Gloria Arroyo that they are willing to negotiate again for the release of Schilling."

"I told Sabaya it is the government's policy not to negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf. The government wants the Abu Sayyaf to free the American with no pre-condition," Tan explained.
Schilling, from Oakland, California, allegedly went voluntarily to the camp of the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo last August. His wife, a Filipino Muslim, is the cousin of Abu Sabaya, prompting investigators to believe he is not a hostage but a willing accomplice in raising ransom money.

The government suspended all negotiations with the separatist rebels after the Abu Sayyaf demanded $10 million ransom from the U.S. embassy in Manila in exchange for Schilling's release.
The government's massive rescue and offensive operation against the Abu Sayyaf in the hinterlands of Jolo killed hundreds of Abu Sayyaf members.

It also resulted in the escape of several hostages, but the authorities failed to rescue Schilling and another hostage, the Filipino dive master, Roland Ullah. Ullah is the last of the 21 mostly European and Asian holiday makers kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in a daring cross-border raid in Sabah's Sipadan island resort in April 2000. Despite the military assault, the authorities have failed to arrest the Abu Sayyaf leaders. Tan said his administration is closely coordinating with the government and the military for the rehabilitation of areas in Sulu which were damaged in the clashes.