October 18, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abu Sayyaf holed up in cave, by Noralyn Mustafa and Alexander Young,

October 18, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abu Sayyaf holed up in cave, by Noralyn Mustafa and Alexander Young,

JOLO, Sulu--Abu Sayyaf leader Galib "Commander Robot" Andang and Mujib Susukan, along with an estimated 200 gunmen, have holed themselves up in a mountain cave here where they are safe from bombing raids, sources told the INQUIRER yesterday. 

Three other major faction leaders--Radulan Sajiron, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sabaya--and their followers are encamped on the slopes of Mt. Sinumaan, which are also considered safe from bombardment, other sources in the town of Patikul said. 

The sources said Andang and Susukan had set up camp in the Liang cave on the slopes of Bud Talipao in Barangay Bitiman, Talipao. The kidnappers were reportedly safe on the second day of a fierce ground and air assault on their jungle hideouts, as the President flew to Zamboanga City to monitor the military attack and issue words of encouragement to government troops. 

"We are banking on you, General Abaya," Mr. Estrada was heard telling Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya, who is in charge of the Jolo operation, by phone after he was briefed on the assault. "Let's kill all these Abu Sayyaf (bandits), they have given us only embarrassment," Reuters quoted the President as saying. 

But despite hopes of a quick and surgical strike, Mr. Estrada said the rescue- and-destroy operations could last up to a week, as the military upgraded security in Metro Manila in case of reprisals from Abu Sayyaf members or sympathizers. 

A senior Army official told Agence France Presse that at least 70 gunmen slipped through a naval blockade around Jolo and escaped to Basilan after troops overran two of the gunmen's strongholds. 

Bur Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes shrugged off the report. "We have no reason to believe the Abu Sayyaf group we are pursuing has slipped out of Jolo island," he said. 

Basilan authorities, however, said at least 70 of the fleeing gunmen were spotted in their province, the former stronghold of Janjalani's faction, which is holding American hostage Jeffrey Schilling. 

Provincial government spokesperson Hader Glang told reporters that government troops pursued the 70 gunmen. Clashes were reported in mangrove-covered coastal areas around Lantawan town in Basilan on Saturday. 

Basilan provincial authorities have urged the military to impose a naval blockade around that island, similar to one that is already set up around Jolo, about 100 kilometers away. 

Robot's head on plate 

When former German hostage Werner Wallert was freed last month, he was told that he would have the head of Commander Robot on a plate as a Christmas present. Three weeks later, the massive military assault seemed to prove that the unidentified Air Force general's grisly offer--recounted by Wallert to a German magazine last week--was no idle boast. 

The operations, which began after midnight Friday, "will last three days to a week," Mr. Estrada told cameramen who accompanied him yesterday afternoon to the Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga, where he held the telephone conversation with Abaya. 

During his three-hour visit, the President was briefed by top military brass. He ordered Abaya specifically to secure the freedom of two French journalists among 19 hostages without putting their lives at risk. The President refused to give details of the assault. "You will know (them) later when the operation is finished and the Abu Sayyaf is already put in its place," he told reporters. 

Rescue first, destroy next 

Mr. Estrada said his primary concern was the safety of hostages. He said he wanted a quick resolution to the crisis and destruction of the Abu Sayyaf with the least harm done to civilians and their property. 

In a news conference in Zamboanga City with senior military and police officials, Reyes said Mr. Estrada's instructions were that "this is primarily a rescue operation" aimed at ensuring that the hostages are freed. 

The secondary objective is "to destroy the Abu Sayyaf" and "deliver the strong message that we don't and will not condone acts of terrorism similar to these," he said. 

The Abu Sayyaf gunmen were in "escape mode," fleeing under the onslaught of the military assault, which enters its third day today, Reyes said. "The military operation has been successful, the troops have performed well. The preliminary objectives we set for ourselves, in terms of areas to be secured," have been met, Reyes said. 

"We are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf group, we continue to pursue them, we have contained them exactly where (we want them)," he told reporters, saying that "over 4,000" government forces are involved in the operation.  One government official in Zamboanga said the waves of air strikes Saturday on Abu Sayyaf hideouts were meant to soften the defensive positions of the kidnappers before the ongoing ground assault. 

Reyes said there had been six "engagements" with the kidnappers in which six Abu Sayyaf members had been killed and 20 captured. He said it was "premature" to say if any Abu Sayyaf leaders were among the 20. 

Selected targets 

Heavy mortar bombing of rebel positions resumed at dawn after tapering off overnight and continued through the day, residents of Jolo said. Most of the fighting was in the interior hills where the Abu Sayyaf factions have their hideouts, about 20 km from the main town. 

"We are hitting only selected targets," one military source said. "You don't hit the main camp, because you might hit the hostages." A certain Commander Mihadun, a follower of Radulan Sajiron, is still encamped in Maligay, which military forces have already overrun, sources said. Soldiers had reportedly burned all 100 houses in the encampment. It was also reported that two military trucks hit land mines believed to have been laid by Commander Robot's men. 

Ferry services to and from Jolo were still suspended yesterday, while telephone links to the remote isle were still down. Reyes said the communication and transportation links would be restored when it was "advisable" to do so. 

On Abu appeal 

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the government had yet to discuss a reported appeal by Commander Robot calling for a ceasefire so both sides could continue negotiations. 

Officials in Zamboanga said on Saturday that Andang had contacted a government emissary asking for the bombardment to be stopped and for negotiations to resume. Only "higher authorities" can take up that request, Reyes said yesterday. 

"The matter of negotiation is a policy matter and this will have to be elevated to the higher authorities," he told the news conference. Mercado said the door to negotiation had not been closed. "Nothing is written in granite," he told local radio. 

Reyes added that if any Abu Sayyaf members wished to surrender, "they can do so anytime." 

KL: Shoot on sight 

Authorities expect the Abu Sayyaf gunmen to head for Malaysian territory as the attack continues. Malaysian officials will "implement measures necessary to prevent a spillover of the fighting taking place within Philippine  territory," Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak was quoted as saying in the New Sunday Times, a Malaysian newspaper. 

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Saturday that a Cabinet directive to shoot intruders on sight remains in effect, the newspaper reported. "The army and police have been instructed to tighten surveillance and patrols in Malaysian waters and also along our border with the Philippines," Badawi was quoted as saying. "We are prepared to face any possibility." With reports from Jonathan F. Ma, Hernan P. de la Cruz, Carolyn O. Arguillas, Jowel F. Canuday and Julie Alipala-Inot, PDI Mindanao Bureau; Inquirer wires