Kidnappers hand over women to Abu Sayyaf group

Four Filipino women held hostage by bandits in Jolo were handed over to the Abu Sayyaf group, whose fighters clashed with security forces on the southern Philippine island about 950 kilometres from Manila, a military official said Saturday.

The kidnappers' leader Abdulmuin Sahiron, who is a nephew of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Radullan Sahiron, has joined forces with the dreaded hostage-taking group, but the fate of the hostages remains unknown, a senior army official said.

More than 200 Abu Sayyaf fighters clashed with security forces in a fierce gunbattle near Mt. Bagsak in Patikul town, Sulu, on Friday that left at least six soldiers dead and seven wounded. The military said a still undetermined number of gunmen were slain, but their bodies were dragged away by guerrillas. Not a single body was found.

Troops yesterday tried to surround the scene of the bloody firefight in an effort to trap the rebels, but all they found were broken rifles, bloodstained camouflage uniforms and pots and pans, evidence that the Abu Sayyaf had stayed there for days.

The site of the clashes was drenched with blood. The military said troops captured three rebel camps in Patikul's dense jungle.

"There are military reports saying that the four Filipino hostages were handed over to the Abu Sayyaf last week and they are being used as shields. That's why soldiers are careful in the operation because we want to get the hostages alive," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

There were no reports about the fate of the Indonesian hostages held by a group under a leader whose name is Commander Black Killer, also said to be a relative of the one-armed Radulan Sahiron.

Military reports yesterday said the rebels have broken up into smaller groups in Patikul's jungle, making it difficult for the soldiers to track them down. Several teams of special forces soldiers have been dispatched to conduct reconnaissance operations at night to pinpoint the location of the rebels.

Jolo Army Commander, Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, could not be reached for comment.

His aide said Brig. Gen. Tolentino has moved his tactical command post to Patikul from downtown Jolo to effectively supervise the offensive operation.

The four women preachers, members of the non-Catholic Jehovah's Witnesses, were kidnapped by Sahiron in Patikul town on August 20.

The three Indonesian sailors were kidnapped off Sulu by a certain Commander Malud on June 17. Originally, four sailors were kidnapped, but one of them, Ferdinand Joel, escaped. The foreigners are being held in Luuk town, several kilometres from Patikul.