Fishermen reject military's claim about blockades

A fishing boat commandeered by Abu Sayyaf rebels who abducted 20 people from a posh beach resort here sailed for three days from Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi towards Basilan without meeting any navy vessel - contrary to the military's claim that it had set up blockades in the sea, fishermen who were released by the abductors said.

In an interview with a local radio station, fishing boat captain Julian Raila thanked the hostage takers for fulfilling their promise to release him and nine others unharmed upon reaching Basilan. They were found in a banana grove on Saturday and flown here, where they were presented in a news conference at the Western Command headquarters on Sunday evening.

Raila said the bandits reached Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, a remote group of islands in the Sulu Sea, at around noon on May 27 and took over his fishing boat. The hostages were transferred to the fishing boat and the group stayed there until Monday evening, while the bandits waited for their companions to get fuel.

"We were scared because they were armed," Raila said. At one point, the bandits ordered the hostages to hide under the boat's tarpaulin cover and the fishermen to dangle their hooks-and-lines over the side while a military plane flew overhead, he said.

The American missionaries led the group in praying and singing to ease their ordeal, said Reynaldo Conales, another fisherman. On the evening of May 28, the group started their voyage to Basilan and reached the island on May 31, Raila said. Asked if there was a naval blockade, Raila said, "That's not true. We did not see any navy boat."

During the journey, Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya used his satellite phone several times, positioning himself on the prow of the boat so the fishermen and the hostages would not hear him, Raila said. From the photos of the rebel leaders in the newspapers, Raila recognised Kaddafy Janjalani as one of the bandits who held a 30-caliber machinegun, with a bandolier of ammunition strapped to his body. "He was silent. It was Sabaya giving out the orders," Raila said.

The boat captain identified one of the other leaders as an engineer named Sulayman. Upon reaching a coastal village in Basilan, everyone disembarked and some of the bandits hacked the boat with an axe while the engines were still running, apparently in an attempt to sink the vessel.

The fishermen were separated from the resort hostages during a shootout near a river and were brought by a group of bandits to Barangay Bato-bato, where local officials and police fetched them. Raila said they agreed to have a reunion with the other hostages in Puerto Princesa if they all survived the hostage crisis.