The Abu Sayyaf Group on Monday said that the ongoing Philippine-US joint military exercises on the southern island of Basilan have already failed since it failed to crush the group halfway through its six-month schedule.
The "superpower" and the Philippines gained nothing but "embarrassment" since an American couple and a Filipina nurse have remained in captivity for 11 months now, the ABS-CBN on-line news quoted Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya as saying.
US Joints Chief of Staff Chairman, Richard Myers, who is visiting Basilan, said earlier that the exercises have so far been a success, and that the US government would help crush terrorist cells in Southeast Asia which are linked to the al-Qaeda network of international terrorist Osama bin Laden.
The Abu Sayyaf said the Philippine government should seek freedom for American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap through negotiation instead of military pressure. The group said Monday that it is giving the government a final chance to negotiate.
The Abu Sayyaf has warned of strikes on US forces in Basilan and intensified attacks against civilian and government targets if the military went on with it offensives. The group also reportedly claimed responsibility for deadly bombings in General Santos city in the south that killed 15 people early this month.
The military, however, taunted the threat, saying that the bandits have been isolated, cornered, and cut off of its supply lines. It is now a question of time for the uprooting of the group.
There are over 1,000 US troops deployed in the southern Philippines, some of which, including 160 special forces, are joining thousands of Filipino troops hunting in Basilan where the Abu Sayyaf bandits are hiding with their hostages in thick forests and mountains.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2002)
