|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
by Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (Islam Online) - Boosted by the dramatic escape of two French hostages, Jean-Jacques Le Garrec, 46, and Roland Madura, 49, from Abu Sayyaf kidnappers while on a hide and seek trek, Philippine President Joseph Estrada vowed to pursue the Abu Sayyaf Muslim group. Estrada, taking the release of the hostages as part of his successful endeavor in Jolo, added that he had ordered the army assault on the Abu Sayyaf island hideout to be stepped up. "We should crush them and reduce them to ash, this Abu Sayyaf," Estrada, flanked by the two French journalists, said at a news conference. "We cannot stop here; there are still 17 hostages to go," said Estrada, adding he had ordered an intensification of military operations. "We shall continue to pursue the Abu Sayyaf criminals and secure the safety of the remaining hostages," the President added. Abu Sayyaf leader Galib ''Commander Robot'' Andang and Mujib Susukan, along with an estimated 200 gunmen, have holed up in a mountain cave where they consider themselves safe from bombing raids. The Philippines army, after concluding that the bombings have not produced the desired results has halted the air strikes. The Abu Sayyaf leader escaped the initial stages of bombing on Saturday anticipating that there would be an attack against his positions. He is said to have had packed the hostages and headed for hideouts in the mountains of Jolo. "We are like dust, the wind comes we disappear, the wind goes we come back in place." Robot said before the start of the Philippines strike against the island. The two escaped journalists said they had seen hell during the early days of the army pounding of the rebel positions. "For the last four days, we've been very afraid because of the operations in the field,'' Madura said. "It seems their [Abu Sayyaf] safety and our own safety was very weak.'' Le Garrec, for his part, said that the rebels did not harass them. "Each time there was something serious they would be very sad and they would come back to us and tell us what's happening.'' "The military pressure that they imposed on the Abu Sayyaf group allowed us to move all the time and especially to move at night. We took the opportunity of the last night's move when we decided to escape. "…we escaped going through a very narrow [passage]. Everybody was afraid because getting across the road, we could be seen by the military control," he said, adding that the other remaining captives were well treated and safe. |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
