The military yesterday categorically blamed the four top-ranking Abu Sayyaf leaders for the abduction of 20 people from a luxury Palawan resort in south-western Philippines on Sunday even as they stumbled on the personal effects of some of the hostages on a remote island.

"The Abu Sayyaf group leaders who led the assault and the hostage taking were Ghalib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, Mujib Susukan, Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani and spokesperson Abu Sabaya, said Armed Forces spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, who quoted two fishermen who had escaped from the terrorist group last Monday.

"They saw the three Americans, along with the other Filipino captives," said Brig. Gen. Adan, the first credible sighting since most of the hostages were taken in a daring dawn raid on Sunday from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province.

The Abu Sayyaf leaders were also accompanied by Ustadz Ummal, Ustadz Sherhata and Tuan Hadzmie and 10 armed followers of Andang and Susukan, both Sulu-based leaders of the bandit group, Brig. Gen. Adan said.

The two fishermen were also Muslims and that they had succeeded in finding out the names of the Abu Sayyaf men involved in the hostage-taking incident, he said but refused to identify the fishermen who were placed under the custody of the police in Jolo.

The kidnappers had abducted five fishermen when they escaped Palawan's Puerto Princesa where Dos Palmas hotel is located, and then proceeded to Cagayan de Tawi-tawi, near Sulu, on the night of May 28, said Brig. Gen. Adan.

Two of the fishermen said they jumped off the boat quietly and swam to a nearby island. Some fishermen in the area found them and helped them to go to the police. "They reported their harrowing experience. They were the first ones to confirm the identity of the Abu Sayyaf leaders who were responsible for the hostage taking," stated Brig. Gen. Adan.

At the same time, on Tuesday, Marine soldiers found an automated teller machine (ATM) card and a camera belonging to one of the hostages, on Mapun Island, near Palawan, which leads to the chain of islands leading to Sulu, said Brig. Gen. Adan. He refused to identify the owners of the recovered items.

The identified Abu Sayyaf leaders were the same people responsible for the kidnapping incident in Malaysia's Sipadan resort last year, Brig. Gen. Adan noted, in reference to the abduction of 21 mostly foreign tourists in April, 2000. That hostage crisis lasted for five months and, in the process, destroyed the image of the country as a tourist and investment destination.