PHILIPPINES: THOUSANDS OF MOSLEM FIGHTERS AND PHILIPPINES MILITARY UNITS STRENGTHEN CORDON AROUND ABU SAYYAF GUERILLAS HOLDING 21 HOSTAGES

Record ID: 375901

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: THOUSANDS OF MOSLEM FIGHTERS AND PHILIPPINES MILITARY UNITS STRENGTHEN CORDON AROUND ABU SAYYAF GUERILLAS HOLDING 21 HOSTAGES
  • Date: 7th May 2000
  • Summary: JOLO, THE PHILIPPINES (MAY 7, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF JOLO CITY/ TRAFFIC (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. VARIOUS OF TROOPS ON PATROL (2 SHOTS) 0.25 3. SLV PEOPLE IN TRUCKS 0.34 4. SLV SCHOOL USED AS REFUGEE CAMP 0.39 5. WIDE OF SCHOOL COMPOUND 0.49 6. MV/CU WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CAMP/ CLOSEUP OF CHILD REFUGEE (2 SHOTS) 1.00 7. INT INTERIOR OF CAMP, PICTURE/ WOMAN (2 SHOTS) 1.08 8. MV MORO NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (MNLF) PERSONNEL 1.16 9. MV/CU MNLF (MORO NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT) FORCES CARRYING ARMS/ CLOSEUP OF RIFLE (2 SHOTS) 1.34 10. MV MNLF PERSONNEL WAITING (2 SHOTS) 1.49 11. SLV DRIVING AWAY IN TRUCK 1.57 12. WIDE OF MUSLIMS IN SCHOOL (2 SHOTS) 2.04 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADMINISTRATOR OF MADRASDA, MANGONA IRIBANI SAYING: "There are Abu Sayyaf, and there are Abu Sayyaf who are religious fundamentalist. But there are other people who claim they are Abu Sayyaf, but their aim is to take advantage of the name of the Abu Sayyaf and they do kidnapping, pillaging, but after all they're not Abu Sayyaf. 2.26 14. WIDE OF FOLLOWERS IN CHURCH SINGING/ FOLLOWERS SITTING IN CHURCH (2 SHOTS) 2.41 15. SV (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) GIL BUTACION, A CATHOLIC PRIEST SAYING: "I hope the government has the political will to solve this problem. They should prove to the rebels and the kidnappers that they have the might and the power to stop them from what they're doing, not just say on the negotiating table. They should let the rebels feel that they have guts, but I know there are also many people dying. 3.19 16. BV CATHOLIC PRIEST GIVES COMMUNION 3.30 17. WIDE OF AIRPORT 3.35 18. SLV PEOPLE BOARDING THE PLANE 3.41 19. GV WIDE OF PLANE TAKING OFF, CARRYING RESIDENTS WHO WANT TO LEAVE THE ISLAND 3.54 20. CU CHILD WATCHING AS PLANE TAKES OFF 3.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JOLO, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Reuters ID: LVAB0OCO7Y6DFTE9OXYLKJI2I0UT
  • Story Text: Thousands of Moslem fighters and Philippines military
    units are strengthening a cordon around Abu Sayyaf guerillas
    who are holding twenty one hostages seized from a Malaysian
    resort two weeks ago.

    Meanwhile scores of villagers have fled the clashes
    between government troops and separatist rebels as the
    violence intensifies.

    Security on the streets of Jolo city is being
    tightened as government forces strengthen their positions in
    the wake of clashes with the rebels.

    Fighters from Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), part
    of a regional militia, have joined a 2,000-strong military
    force already surrounding the rebels' hideout in Talipao,
    local officials say.

    The MNLF was previously the biggest Moslem separatist
    group in the southern Philippines until it signed a peace deal
    with Manila in 1996.The government's chief negotiator with
    the hostage takers is Nur Misuari, MNLF chairman and governor
    of the semi-autonomous Moslem region in the southern
    Philippines.

    As troops increase patrols, hundreds of refugees displaced
    by the fighting on Jolo have been escorted to makeshift camps.

    This school compound is now home to scores of refugees,
    mostly women and children.

    Abu Sayyaf guerrillas abducted their captives from a
    Malaysian island resort off Borneo two weeks ago and took them
    by boat to Jolo, some 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila.

    Authorities say all of the hostages -- nine Malaysians,
    three Germans, two French, two South Africans, two Finns, two
    Filipinos and one Lebanese -- are alive but losing strength
    after two weeks of captivity in the tropical heat.

    The Philippines has come under mounting international
    pressure to avoid any rescue that could endanger the hostages.

    The rebels are split by factions and have not yet come up
    with common demands, an official said.

    In Jolo city some Muslim leaders said the kidnappers might
    not be the "real" Abu Sayyaf.

    "There are Abu Sayyaf, and there are Abu Sayyaf who are
    religious fundamentalists.But there are other people who
    claim they are Abu Sayyaf, but their aim is to take advantage
    of the name of the Abu Sayyaf and they do kidnapping, and
    robbery, but they are not really the Abu Sayyaf," said Mangona
    Iribani, head of a local Madrassa (Islamic School).

    The conflict has shattered the peace on the island and
    many residents are looking to the government to end the
    rebels' reign of terror.

    "I hope the government has the political will to solve this
    problem.They should prove to the rebels and the kidnappers
    that they have the might and the power to stop them from what
    they're doing, not just say on the negotiating table.They
    should let the rebels feel that they have guts," said Gil
    Butacion, a Catholic priest.

    "But I know there are also many people dying," he
    conceded.

    Some residents, however, are not staying to see the
    conflict resolved.Many are leaving Jolo as the fighting rages
    on.

    The Abu Sayyaf are fighting for an Islamic state in the
    south of this largely Catholic country.The Philippine
    military estimates their strength at more than 1,000.


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