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July 7, 2001, Inquirer News Service / Agence France-Presse, Army general chasing Abu sacked amid complaints,

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July 7, 2001, Inquirer News Service / Agence France-Presse,  Army general chasing Abu sacked amid complaints,

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The general heading military forces battling Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in the south was replaced Saturday (July 7) amid growing complaints over the military's failure to rescue the hostages. 

Brig. Gen. Romeo Dominguez would be reassigned to head Army forces in Samar province, military spokesperson Maj. Alberto Gepilano said. 

His successor, Brig. Gen. Glicerio Sua, would take over as head of the First Infantry Division in charge of military forces in western Mindanao. 

Sua’s area of jurisdiction covers the southernmost island groups of Basilan and Sulu, two haunts of the Abu Sayyaf, the self-styled Islamic separatists holding 19 Filipinos and two Americans hostage in Basilan. 

Last week, Sua replaced Dominguez as head of “Task Force Comet,” a special group hunting the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan. 

Gepilano remarked that Sua’s assumption to the post would be a morale booster for the troops. 

Sua previously headed a military operation that overran an Abu Sayyaf camp last year during a similar hostage crisis involving schoolchildren and teachers. 

The Armed Forces’ reputation has taken a beating since the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan seized 17 Filipinos and three Americans from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan on May 27. 

They repeatedly eluded military pursuit and have killed four Filipino hostages and claim to have beheaded one of the Americans, Guillermo Sobero. 

Although the Abu Sayyaf has released some of their hostages, reportedly in exchange for large ransom payments, they also seized more captives and now hold 21 hostages, including American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham. 

About 5,000 troops are combing the forested, hilly terrain of Basilan for the kidnappers but have had little success. 

Although President Macapagal-Arroyo has defended the military’s efforts, she has not let her loyalty cloud her ambitions to crush the group. A colonel whose forces missed a crucial opportunity to surround the group on June 2 was subsequently replaced. 

In the main Sulu island of Jolo, another haunt of the Abu Sayyaf, Marines captured three suspected Abu Sayyaf members and seized five rifles and a cache of ammunition on Friday, the military said. 

The three were arrested after a tip from local residents. 

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