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U.S., Philippine Hostages Killed in Failed Rescue Attempt
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Botched rescue attempt ends in death of two hostages. |
ZAMBOANGA,
Philippines, June 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – After being
held hostage for over a year, a U.S. missionary and a Filipina nurse
were killed Friday as an attempt by the Philippine military to rescue
them from Abu Sayyaf rebels after their captivity ended in tragedy.
"He
is dead," Philippine military chief General Roy Cimatu told
reporters in Manila, referring to Martin Burnham, who was held captive
together with his wife, Gracia Burnham, and Filipina nurse Ediborah
Yah.
Gracia
Burnham was rescued and was treated at a hospital in the southern
Philippines for a leg wound, the military's deputy chief of staff
Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya said, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
The
military said she was out of danger and would be flown to Okinawa
along with her husband's body.
The
U.S. couple from Kansas were kidnapped in an Abu Sayyaf raid on a
Philippine tourist resort in May 2001 and taken to the south and
confined to the island of Basilan.
They
were missionaries belonging to a U.S. evangelical group. The mission
offered their condolences Friday in a statement.
The
New Tribes Mission (NTM) in Sanford, Florida, asked members to pray
for Martin Burnham, Ediborah Yap and Burnham's wife Gracia.
"Our hearts are heavy over the loss of Martin and Deborah
[Ediborah]. We are grateful for Gracia's survival and we ache for her,
their children and the rest of the families," the mission said in
a statement.
Yap,
a Filipina nurse, who was kidnapped several days later, was also
killed in Friday's rescue attempt near the town of Sirawai in the
Zamboanga peninsula, Cimatu said.
Four
Abu Sayyaf gunmen were shot dead and seven soldiers were wounded in
the firefight, which continued in the mountainous area into late
afternoon, officials said.
President
Gloria Arroyo vowed to "finish" off the Abu Sayyaf
guerrillas as she offered condolences to the relatives of the
Burnhams.
"I
am deeply saddened over the death of Martin Burnham and one of our
very own, Ediborah Yap, who were slain in an encounter between our
troops and the Abu Sayyaf after more than a year in captivity,"
Arroyo said in a statement.
She
defended the military, saying, "Our soldiers tried their best to
hold their fire for their [the hostages'] safety. I salute our troops
for their forbearance".
"The
terrorists shall not be allowed to get away with this. We shall not
stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished. I ask our people to be
vigilant. The battle shall go on, wherever it takes us."
Most
Muslims also consider Abu Sayyaf as guerillas driven by desires to
extort ransom money from the families of their hostages.
U.S.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,
immediately distanced U.S. forces from participation in the bloody
rescue attempt.
"What
I know is the Philippine armed forces made a hostage rescue, that in
that rescue attempt, Mr. Burnham was killed, Mrs. Burnham was wounded,
not life threatening, and that Mrs. Yap, the [Filipina] hostage was
killed," Myers told journalists at the end of a NATO Defense
Ministers meeting in Brussels.
He
asserted, "to the best of my knowledge there was no U.S.
involvement".
U.S.
embassy officials in Manila conferred with Arroyo in Manila and
finalized arrangements for Gracia Burnham and her slain husband to be
flown from Zamboanga to the U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan late
Friday from the south.
It
was unclear how, or when, the Abu Sayyaf gang moved out of Basilan
where they were being pursued by 5,000 Philippine troops.
Over
the past four months, 1,000 U.S. military advisers have been training
Filipino troops based in Basilan going after the Abu Sayyaf, a band of
Muslim guerrillas with reputed links to Osama bin Laden, the suspected
mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Army
Scout Rangers Colonel Renato Padua said Martin Burnham, 42, a Wichita,
Kansas native who grew up in the Philippines "was executed by the
Abu Sayyaf rebels" when they realized a rescue attempt was
underway.
Martin
Burnham's mother, Oreta Burnham, told Philippine television network
GMA that the couple's three children were still unaware of the fate of
their father.
U.S.
President George W. Bush also expressed sadness over the deaths of the
hostages, saying, "I'm - first let me say how sad we
are that Martin Burnham lost his life.
"I'm
pleased that Mrs. Burnham is alive. That's good."
Bush
said he had received assurances from Philippine President Gloria
Arroyo that the rebel group would be brought to justice.
"She
assured me that the Philippine government would hold the terrorist
group accountable for how they treated these Americans, that justice
would be done," Bush said.
"We
are obviously going to look at all the particulars and the facts, and
the State Department will be talking about that later on today."
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