American tourist Guillermo Sobero was not beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf Group on June 12, contrary to the statement of Abu Sayyaf Spokesman Abu Sabaya, according to three people who say he is still alive.

"He is very much alive. He is not dead. He was brought to a place by some Abu Sayyaf leaders who keep moving around Basilan," Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu said in a phone interview.

"He is being held in solitary, and separated from others hostages. That was the reason why some of the recently freed hostages never saw him," said Kabalu. "They want to make it appear that he is dead but he is confined to another group. It is just their strategy," said Kabalu.

The MILF's Basilan division chief Commander Aloy and its 402nd Brigade's Commander Musawarin Mujahid said Sobero was seen with some Abu Sayyaf junior commanders in Tipo-Tipo and Sumisip towns in Basilan on July 7. The commanders were associated with Abu Sabaya, the spokesperson for the Aub Sayyaf.

Sabaya is no longer with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani who is reportedly holding the American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham. The Abu Sayyaf Group kidnapped Sobero, the Burnham couple and 17 other Filipinos in Palawan, southwestern Philippines on May 27.

Meanwhile, Lantawan-based Abu Sayyaf commander Hamsiraji Sali, also known as Jose, confirmed that Sobero was not beheaded, nor were any of the group's other hostages. "Not a single one was beheaded by us. Even those headless bodies (found last month) in village Cabunbata, we were not responsible for that," said Sali.

But the Abu Sayyaf Group beheaded three soldiers of the 55th Infantry Battalion in Upper Sinangkapan, Tuburan, on June 4, said Sali, hinting there was no truth to reports that the headless bodies found by the military belonged to the group's hostages.

"Let's wait and see. We'll know that in time," said Sali, when asked if Sabaya's group had beheaded Sobero. He's alive, says the mother of Sobero's girl-friend. The mother of hostage Fe Rosadeno, Sobero's fiancee, is convinced that the American is not dead.

"We still firmly believe that my daughter's friend is alive. Even if they don't end up marrying, what is important to us is that they come home alive and safe," said Rosadeno, adding that her daughter was to marry Sobero this month.

Because of the hostage-taking, she said, "it's not likely that their plan will push through". Sobero is in the process of divorcing his wife, with whom he has four young children, the future mother-in-law said.

But Ustadz Shariff Julabbi, a regional chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said his commanders in Basilan confirmed that Sobero was executed by the Abu Sayyaf on June 12, "As far as I am concerned, Sobero is dead," Julabbi said.

"Based on reports, Mr Guillermo Sobero is already dead … the reports were also based on the statement of freed Abu Sayyaf hostages – but as we have said his body has not been found yet," Major Alberto Gepilano, spokesman for the military forces in Basilan, said.

"Let's hope their report is true. But as far as we are concerned, (Sobero is dead) unless we see him alive," Gepilano said. "There were no indications that Sobero is alive," said Armed Forces spokesperson Edilberto Adan, adding that soldiers were combing the hinterlands to find his body.