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Misuari Men Come Under Fire, 27 Dead, Take Hostages
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Nov 27 (News Agencies) - Twenty-seven people were killed Tuesday when the military launched air strikes to evict Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari's armed followers from this southern Philippines port city.
About 30 surviving gunmen retreated from a government complex they had occupied for a week at a strategic hilltop overlooking Zamboanga, taking with them civilian hostages "estimated to be 30 to 40," Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said.
The rebels warned they would kill their remaining captives, mostly Christians.
Their 7.5-mile retreat to the village of Pasonanca followed an eight-hour battle for control of the hilltop that left 25 guerrillas, one soldier and a civilian dead, military spokesman Adan added. Fifteen other people were wounded.
Shortly before the gunmen pulled out, senior Muslim government leaders held talks with the gunmen and won the release of two women and nine children. The Red Cross earlier told the military there were 50 civilian hostages inside the complex.
Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu, the senior military commander in the southern Philippines, promised President Gloria Arroyo "to resolve the conflict by sundown," her National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said in Manila.
Ground attack aircraft resumed bombing runs of the complex mid-afternoon to mop up stragglers, said AFP staff on the scene.
The air strikes ended at dusk and the level of gunfire dropped to intermittent bursts as darkness fell on the hill. Electricity to the area was cut and it was unclear which side was in control.
Adan said those who left the complex linked up with about 70 to 80 comrades in Pasonanca.
"The rebels will be allowed to lay down their firearms. They will be allowed to leave the place, but they must leave their firearms and they must release all their hostages," Adan told reporters in Manila.
Facing a 4 a.m. (3 p.m. EST Monday) deadline to vacate the complex or face a military attack, the Misuari forces struck out before dawn with a mortar barrage on the port city of about 600,000 people.
Most of the shells fell on the Edwin Andrews Air Force base, but aviation officials said the airbase runway was undamaged. Civilians fled their homes and aviation officials shut down the airport, diverting all civilian traffic.
Schools and most businesses were closed as stray shells and machinegun rounds fell into the city.
"I was told that there were some bullets that went into the Garden Orchid," said city mayor Maria Clara Lobregat, referring to one of Zamboanga's top hotels.
The fighting came a day after the south held largely peaceful regional elections to pick the successor to former separatist rebel Misuari as governor of a Muslim self-rule area.
The 60 year-old Misuari was arrested off the Malaysian state of Sabah on Saturday, six days after the Philippine military crushed his armed revolt in the nearby southern island of Jolo that left at least 113 dead.
Parouk Hussin, the government candidate who was leading in an uncompleted official count, was pressed into service to negotiate with the gunmen.
Misuari, a former guerrilla leader who became Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor when he signed a peace treaty in 1996, mounted a fresh revolt when President Arroyo refused to support his re-election bid.
Although Malaysia plans to deport Misuari, Manila has since asked Kuala Lumpur to put him on trial there and let him serve out his sentence before handing him over to be charged with rebellion.
Government negotiator Abraham Iribani said the gunmen realize that their cause is lost and "they accept the situation."
He said they have not issued any demands, and that "most of them would just like to leave, but not in disgrace."
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