A new spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf group has criticised the presence of American troops who are engaged in war games with Filipino soldiers to crush the militant group and rescue two Americans and one Filipina hostages in Basilan Island, southern Philippines.

In a taped statement aired over Radio Mindanao Network, the Abu Sayyaf spokesman identified as Abu Sulayman said: "We are not afraid of the Americans. Your operations will not be fully successful because the next generation will continue our fight."

The U.S. troops are the "colonisers and the real bandits who travelled thousands of miles to subjugate a nation", said Sulayman, who read a prepared statement in English.

"What crimes have we committed? We are only exercising our God-given rights to protect ourselves. The Americans have been engaged in the desecration of our women, confiscation of our properties," Sulayman claimed.

"What about freedom and justice? What happened to your freedom and justice? Do you mean to say you have the moral right to assert them and us none? We guarantee that, in the end, you will be the loser," proclaimed Sulayman.

He added that the Americans are violating people's rights to assert their freedom by intervening in the country's internal affairs.

Sulayman also criticised the government for allowing the entry of American troops into the Philippines.