Another Abu Sayyaf hostage yesterday admitted he had participated in the gruesome beheadings under duress by Abu Sayyaf members in Basilan in December 1994, a local paper said.

The Abu Sayyaf, led by Abdurajak Janjalani, abducted Baylon Abines and four other land surveyors in Sumisip, Basilan on November 18, 1994. One of the surveyors was identified as Jun Penaflor. They were taken to different parts of Basilan and the neighbouring Sulu archipelago.

Abines said an Abu Sayyaf member, Jovenal Bruno, had pointed a gun to his head and ordered him to behead Maluso village captain Solomon Mayang. Abines said the sword was not sharp enough and Mayang did not die instantly. An Abu Sayyaf member called Bangot dealt the fatal blow to the victim, Abines said.

At gunpoint, Bruno also ordered Jun Penaflor to behead Mayang's son, Jonathan, Abines said. Bruno shot the video of the beheadings, which took place at upper Mahayahay in Maluso, Basilan, on December 25, 1994, said Abines. They were freed in March 1995.

Abines executed an affidavit of his gruesome experience, before a city prosecutor in Zamboanga City also in March 1995.

Penaflor, who went to Basilan police on February 21, admitted he was one of the men seen in the videotape beheading the Abu Sayyaf captives and identified Abines as his accomplice. He remains in police custody.

The video was released by Malacanang Palace and shown on national television last week. It drew outraged reactions from many sectors.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Nestorio Gualberto said police intended to file a case against the Abu Sayyaf bandits for the beheadings this week. Mona Mayang, widow of Solomon Mayang and mother of Jonathan, has filed a complaint with the police against the Abu Sayyaf.

Adds Gilbert Felongco, Our Manila Correspondent: An exiled leader of the local communist movement yesterday accused the government of conspiring with the U.S. in conditioning Filipinos to accept American troops' involvement in the anti-insurgency drive.

Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman, said recent accusations by the administration of President Arroyo that former and active members of the movement are into kidnapping-for-ransom were intended to condition Filipinos into accepting American involvement.

He was speaking during a radio interview from his office in the Netherlands. "This is partly to prepare the public for the deployment of U.S. troops against the New People's Army (NPA)," Sison said in Filipino.

More than 660 American soldiers are currently deployed in Central and Southern Philippines as part of a military exercise with local troops dubbed Balikatan 01-02.

The purpose of U.S. presence in the country, according to Washington, is to help the government neutralise the extremist Abu Sayyaf, which America considers a terrorist organisation.

The Abu Sayyaf, which is based in southern Basilan and Sulu, has mainly engaged in kidnapping locals and foreign nationals including Americans. Recently, the U.S. State Department included the NPA in its list of terrorist groups.

Sison said both Manila and Washington may use this as an excuse to allow U.S. troops involvement in the 32-year-old insurgency campaign against the NPA.