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Police Recover Heads Of Slain Hostages In Philippines
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, June 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Police said Tuesday they had found the severed heads of two Filipino hostages slain at the weekend by the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, who hold 23 U.S. and Filipino captives in the southern Philippines.
The heads were recovered in the outskirts of Isabela, the capital of Basilan island, near where the decapitated bodies of Primitivo Falcasantos and Crisanto Suelo were discovered on Saturday.
The two hostages were among 15 plantation workers seized by Abu Sayyaf gunmen earlier this month.
The bandits also hold at least two Americans and four Filipinos abducted from a luxury resort on May 27th, and four medical staff kidnapped from a Basilan hospital on June 2nd.
Eleven hostages have either escaped or been freed and at least four Filipinos have been killed by the kidnappers.
A third American, Guillermo Sobero, is presumed dead although his body has not been found. The Abu Sayyaf claimed two weeks ago to have beheaded the Californian.
The group sent a message to Sobero's family Tuesday stressing that the American is dead.
Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya, who first announced Sobero, a father of four, had been beheaded on June 12th, said he was responding to a plea from Sobero's mother who Monday begged for news that her 40-year-old son was still alive.
Using Radio Mindanao Network to send his grim message, Abu Sabaya told the Sobero family he could not let them hear Guillermo's voice as they had pleaded because he was dead.
The radio station broke from its normal practice of carrying Sabaya's statements live, and announced the message to the Soberos in a scheduled morning news bulletin.
Sabaya had earlier announced that Sobero was executed after Manila refused to allow two Malaysians, former politician Sairin Karno and businessman Yusuf Handam, to negotiate for the hostages' release.
The Abu Sayyaf has also said it wanted Justice Secretary Hernando Perez be made the chief government negotiator and threatened to decapitate more hostages if their demands were ignored.
The government has said it will not allow the guerrillas to dictate the terms, but appealed Monday to the Sayyaf to stop killing hostages as the military said it was closing in on their main hideout.
Sharif Julabbi, the regional chairman of the Philippines largest Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said Monday he had been told the Abu Sayyaf planned more executions.
"We have received reports that the Abu Sayyaf is threatening to behead some of their captives if the Philippines government does not allow Justice Secretary Perez to negotiate for the release of the hostages," Julabbi said.
The government has ruled out replacing their official negotiator William Castillo with Perez.
The MILF, which last Friday signed a ceasefire with Manila, has denied any involvement with the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf gained international notoriety last year when it took more than 40 Western and Asian hostages over a four-month period. Those hostages were later released in exchange for ransoms worth millions of dollars, which were used to buy arms, after the involvement of Libya in negotiations between the Philippines' government and the Sayyaf.
Since then, Libya has distanced itself from the Sayyaf, calling them bandits and criminals.
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