Abu Sayyaf rebels 'behead U.S. hostage'

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, JUNE 12. In a tragic turn to the hostage drama in the Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf group has claimed that it had beheaded one of the three American hostages being held by them.

Abu Sabaya, a spokesman for the ``bandits'', said they had executed Mr. Guillermo Sobero, a tourist from California.

``We have executed Guillermo Sobero as a gift to the country on (Philippine) Independence Day,'' Sabaya was quoted as telling a local radio station.

In a statement after the claim, the Philippine President, Ms. Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo, said the Government could not confirm the statement. ``If the Abu Sayyaf's claim is accurate, it only emphasises the fact that it is a merciless, ruthless group that has no qualms at all in murdering an innocent person for the sake of ransom money,'' she said.

``We condemn in the strongest possible terms this reported beheading of Mr. Sobero... the reported murder of Mr. Sobero only strengthens our resolve to decimate once and for all this cold- blooded bandit group,'' the President said in her statement.

``We acceded yesterday to their (Abu Sayyaf) request that a Malaysian citizen participate in the talks with them, after they had threatened to kill an American hostage if we did not do so,'' Ms. Arroyo said.

If the claim is correct, then the Abu Sayyaf rebels have played dirty with the Government, which had given in to their request to have a Malaysian national mediate the hostage crisis. It also shows the problems a Government has to deal with when dealing with a hostage crisis of such proportions.

Mr. Sobero was one of the three Americans and 17 Filipinos snatched by the Abu Sayyaf from Palawan island in the southern Philippines on May 27.

Since then, two of the Filipinos have been killed while nine managed to escape. The Abu Sayyaf, which is reported to be holding hostages in different groups, took another 19 hostages from the southern island of Basilan.

Reports from Manila also stated that the Abu Sayyaf had allowed some of the hostages to call their homes and seek ransom payments in exchange for their release.

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Section  : International
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