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July 6, 2001, The Philippine Star, US missionaries leave Palawan due to Sayyaf threat,

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July 6, 2001, The Philippine Star, US missionaries leave Palawan due to Sayyaf threatcache,

 

Christian missionaries from the United States have fled Palawan following intelligence reports Abu Sayyaf gunmen would kidnap them, officials said yesterday.

 

The Americans, from the New Tribes Mission, left their mission house in Palawan last week after being tipped off that Muslim rebels were planning to stage another attack in the area, officials said.

 

Two members of the mission, the couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, were among 20 people snatched by the Abu Sayyaf from an island resort off Palawan on May 27. The hostages were taken to the southern island of Basilan.

 

"They (the other mission members) are so afraid and would not take any chances," one official who did not want to be named said.

 

The rebels have freed 13 of the original 20 hostages allegedly after ransom payments while two Filipinos were executed. The rebels have also claimed to have killed Californian Guillermo Sobero and snatched more Filipino hostages, killing two more.

 

Provincial officials in Palawan, the police, bank owners and resort operators on Wednesday held an emergency meeting following reports the rebels would strike again.

 

"The information (about the alleged rebel plot) was received from the missionary group itself, hence the emergency meeting," the official said.

 

Two hostages released by the rebels on Tuesday said they saw the American couple still alive three days before they were freed. Sobero they said was last seen on June 11, a day before the Abu Sayyaf announced they had beheaded him.

 

Troops foil Isabela attack

 

Government troops foiled on Wednesday night an attempt by Abu Sayyaf rebels to bomb strategic points in tension-filled Isabela City, the capital of Basilan.

 

There were no reports of deaths, injury or property damage.

 

Lt. Col. Danilo Servando, Southern Command spokesman, told reporters yesterday Abu Sayyaf bandits fired 12 explosive rounds at police less than two kilometers off the provincial capital.

 

"They (Abu Sayyaf) may be trying to slip through the city's perimeter which was already heavily guarded by civilian volunteers and military troops that forced them to explode bombs in the adjacent site to divert the government forces' attention," he said.

 

Basilan police director Superintendent Akmadul Pangambayan said militiamen and civilian volunteers have increased security around the city two days after the bandits laid siege to Lamitan town.

 

Intelligence reports said the Abu Sayyaf had been planning to attack Isabela City since last week but tight security foiled the attempt, he added.

 

Servando said the bandits withdrew to the outskirts of Barangay Cabunta but were engaged in a firefight by troops from the Army's First Scout Ranger Battalion.

 

Servando said residents heard at least 12 explosions one after the other from different directions just four to five kilometers from the city.

 

Servando said the Abu Sayyaf had exploded bombs at separate points in the woods near the rubber plantation in Barangay Menzi at about 11 p.m. Wednesday.

 

Servando said the bandits fired grenades from launchers at responding policemen, which caused a series of explosions that were heard in the city.

 

Military reports said the Abu Sayyaf had been eluding thousands of government troops for weeks on Basilan, marching their hostages through the jungle.

 

In Manila, police have arrested three suspected Abu Sayyaf gunrunners, shutting down an arms-buying operation for kidnappers holding about 20 hostages in Basilan.

 

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina accused the two men and a woman of selling drugs and buying weapons for the Abu Sayyaf.

 

The three were arrested Tuesday but police only announced the raid yesterday.

 

Lina said the group may have been planning to bomb targets in Metro Manila to divert the Army's attention from its offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo and Basilan.

 

"The arrest is a big boost to the government's drive against the Abu Sayyaf," he said. "I think we have thwarted their bombing plans."

 

Lina said police seized an assault rifle, a pistol, two rifle grenades and ammunition in the raid on a house in Malate, Manila.

 

Police accused one of the suspects, 40-year-old Mumar Asaninwho manages a Manila travel agencyof falsifying travel documents for Abu Sayyaf members.

 

Others arrested were Mumar's wife, Juring Manjarum and Muhman Dompol Asanin. All three were presented to media at Camp Crame in Quezon City yesterday.

 

Lina said the Abu Sayyaf was using Mumar's travel agency to get fake documents for their members operating in Metro Manila and as a front for falsifying travel papers.

 

In Basilan, the Tipo-Tipo town mayor identified the three as the ones responsible for the murder of several of his supporters and the kidnapping of Christian residents.

 

Philippine National Police intelligence chief Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya said a certain Hadil Bong acts as the syndicate's operations officer.

 

Hadil is said to be responsible for the distribution of shabu in Cebu, Zamboanga, and Basilan, he added.

 

Berroya said Hadil is a close aide of Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sabaya and that his group is behind the procurement and shipment of firearms to other terrorists in Basilan.

 

"The suspects were but just part of a cell of the many ASG fronts in Metro Manila," he said.

 

The three are not part of the five-man Abu Sayyaf terrorist group sent to Metro Manila to bomb commercial centers to trigger chaos among the population, he added. -- With reports from Jaime Laude, Roel Pareno

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