Hundreds of Muslim guerillas will continue efforts to free foreign hostages held by al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the southern Philippines despite a clash last week that killed scores of combatants from both sides, a Muslim rebel leader said.
Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari said late on Tuesday that he ordered his men to reassess their plans following the February 3 clash but to resume efforts to secure the freedom of several hostages, including a Jordanian and two European men, without endangering the captives or nearby communities in Sulu province’s mountainous Patikul town.
The clash killed eight rebels from his group, including a commander, and several gunmen from the Abu Sayyaf, many members of which have fled with their hostages from their traditional encampments in Patikul’s jungles. After the fighting, Misuari said he ordered his forces to rest then reassess their next move “so its repercussions would not be so excessive to society and civilians.”
“I don’t want to cure one mistake with another mistake,” he said.
The condition of the Abu Sayyaf’s kidnap victims in Sulu, who police say include a Jordanian TV journalist, two bird watchers from Switzerland and the Netherlands, a Malaysian and a Japanese treasure hunter, remains unknown following the fighting.
Misuari, who just returned from a foreign trip, said he would fly to Sulu soon to deliver combat uniforms and other supplies to his forces.
Misuari’s insurgent group, which signed a landmark autonomy deal with the government in 1996, will not stop until it has recovered all the hostages and weakened the Abu Sayyaf militants to a point where they could no longer continue their yearslong kidnapping spree and other acts of banditry, he said.
