The Abu Sayyaf group said it has not yet beheaded American hostage Guillermo Sobero, adding the Muslim leader whose body was allegedly found by the military in the southern Philippines last Tuesday is still alive and is their newest hostage.

"We did not behead Mr. Sobero," said Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya.

Reacting to the report, Presidential Spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao said, "We are very glad he (Sabaya) did not behead Mr. Sobero. This (denial) underlies how crazed and depraved this criminal's mind is. It (the denial) only emphasizes the fact that we are dealing with a criminal whose words we cannot trust.

"We rarely see a criminal so depraved as to psychologically torture his victims and their loved ones by making such pronouncements. This (Sabaya) is a criminal who enjoys torturing humans and even makes money out of such deeds," said Tiglao. Earlier, after claiming that Sobero was beheaded, Sabaya even asked an American network if it would buy the videotape of the beheading.

"Sabaya's statements on Mr. Sobero have only convinced the nation that this is a man whose word you cannot trust," said Tiglao, adding that the government had refused to negotiate with Sabaya,

At the same time, Sabaya said his group did not decapitate Ustadz Mohaimin Salih, whose headless body was allegedly recovered by the military in Tipo-Tipo town on Tuesday.
"We did not behead the priest, but we detained him because soldiers could trace our hideout if we allowed him to return," Sabaya said. Another radio station aired Sabaya's statement together with a statement from Salih.

"There is no truth to the reports that I was executed by the Abu Sayyaf, but they seized me after I went to their camp to negotiate for the release of all the hostages without proper coordination with the group," Salih said on radio station dxRZ yesterday, adding he is being held captive in the jungle of Basilan province. His statement was aired simultaneously in Manila.

To prove he is the real Salih, he enumerated the names of his children, his wife and his date of birth. "I went up to the Abu Sayyaf camp to negotiate after President Arroyo rejected any negotiations with them. I did this for the sake of the people here so there could be peace at last," Salih said.

Salih also said that he saw several hostages, including two Americans. "They are being held separately. I saw two of the Americans and they (the Abu Sayyaf) told me that they had executed the other white captive, but I did not see his body and they just told me about this," he said by satellite phone from an unknown hideout in the province.

Former Basilan Congressman Candu Muarip, whom Salih used to work with, said the voice was that of the Muslim cleric. "I am so happy that he is alive. I appeal to the Abu Sayyaf to free him and tell him what they wanted," Muarip told dzRZ from Basilan.

Salih, a former teacher of the slain Abu Sayyaf chieftain Ustadz Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, secretly went to a jungle rebel hideout on Basilan island on June 8, to convince the rebels to free their Filipino and American captives, Muarip said, adding he had asked for Sahi's assistance without the knowledge and the sanction of the national leaders.