The Abu Sayyaf Group says it wants $1 million to release two U.S. nationals it abducted from a posh resort in Palawan in May.

The ransom demand for the release of Christian missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham was relayed to secret negotiators who have been in contact with the group in Basilan. The group is believed to have brought 21 hostages to their hideout in Basilan.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in the meantime, said the U.S. has agreed to join the fight against the Abu Sayyaf by providing surveillance expertise and supplying soldiers and policemen with hi-tech equipment.

"I have asked the U.S. to help and their response has been positive," said Arroyo, at the Economic Intelligence Unit business conference at Shangri-la in Makati. She said she was forced to ask for help because "terrorism transcends borders, and it is an international problem where we must all help one another".

Arroyo has been appeasing businessmen who recently complained about the lack of foreign investors due to the ongoing hostage-crisis spawned by the Abu Sayyaf in May. "The government is not willing to be held hostage by such terrorist groups. They are scum and we will get them. We will see to it that they can no longer do any mischief," said Arroyo.

Later, she met Indonesian President Abdurahman Wahid, but he denied that they talked about Indonesia's support in battling the Abu Sayyaf.

The Malaysian defence minister also came to Manila to meet his counterpart, defence Secretary Angelo Reyes, to discuss border patrols shared by the two countries in the southern Philippines where the Abu Sayyaf operates.

The group earlier claimed they had beheaded American hostage, Guillermo Sobero, on June 12, but the military and the police have yet to find his body. The group is still holding 21 hostages, after releasing 13 others and beheading four.

The hostages were released because of alleged ransom payment made by relatives, sources say for amounts between $100,000 and $200,000 per person. Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) say they are willing to leave their mountain hideouts in Basilan to allow the authorities to wage an all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said, during a radio interview, that this could be a complicated arrangement. "But then, there is nothing impossible if this could be tackled in the (peace) talks. As of now there is no such arrangement."