Filipino militants set time for hostage beheading

[saidox]

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MANILA, Philippines - Al-Qaida-linked extremists set the time for the beheading of a Red Cross hostage after last-minute negotiations for the withdrawal of troops from their jungle stronghold failed, an official said Monday.
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Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad threatened to behead one of the three Red Cross hostages _ who include a Swiss, an Italian and a Filipino _ at 2 p.m. Tuesday (0600 GMT) unless police and militiamen withdraw from 15 villages on Jolo Island within 24 hours, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.

"Their demands as of last night are physically impossible to comply with by anybody," Puno said at a news conference, adding they will continue to find ways to save the hostages "up to the last minute."

But Puno hinted that the government was ready to resort to force if any of the hostages, who have been held for 2 1/2 months by about 120 Abu Sayyaf gunmen, are harmed. They have been held in a hilly jungle in Jolo's Indanan town, and until the recent pullout, surrounded by more than 1,000 marines, police and militiamen for weeks.

"If we're talking of brute force, of course we can do something," Puno said, adding "these are not normal thinking people ... we don't want the hostages harmed."

Caving in to the militants, the marines withdrew to their camp last week and police and militiamen moved back from the Abu Sayyaf stronghold by six to nine miles (10-15 kilometers), hoping to prompt the Abu Sayyaf to comply with a pledge to release one hostage.

But the militants insisted that troops must withdraw from virtually the entire island into just two villages near the provincial capital _ a demand the government says would lead to anarchy.

Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said Monday he was praying the militants do not harm the hostages.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman, Cerge Remonde, also said he hoped "these bandits have a sense of humanity" and will release the hostages.

Puno said the government agreed to pull back troops from Indanan township, near the Abu Sayyaf positions, to demonstrate it has bent over backward to ensure the safety of the hostages _ Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, Swiss Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni.

They were seized Jan. 15 after visiting a water project for a jail on Jolo, a predominantly Muslim region about 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila.

The Abu Sayyaf has long been dreaded for beheading hostages, including an American tourist in 2001 as well as seven Filipino laborers in 2007 after the group failed to get a ransom on time.

The U.S. government has placed the Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 gunmen, on its list of terrorist organizations because of beheadings and kidnappings, deadly bomb attacks and the militants' links to al-Qaida.

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Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

Source: Filipino militants set time for hostage beheading - Yahoo! Philippines News
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Kung ikaw ang Gobyerno, Unsai Buhaton nmo??

[Omicron]

gubaton nalang na oi. demanding ra kaayo sila.

[peewee_toot]

kill them all!

[saidox]

nya ang mga hostage?? apil sad kamatay?? lo.oya..

[softtouch]

Evacuate all civilians from there and drop a nuclear bomb.

[limunsito]

mgpa civilian mn sd ang uban mo apil ra sd cla ug evacuate

[gpcortes07]

sige ra man pailad atong goberno aning grupoha oi. sayang lang ni pullout na sila unya dili pa gyud diay enough.

[boy_bato]

karon pa mo? the government can get rid of these parasites if they really want to. the problem is there's something going on between these government officials themselves and the rebels mao nang di gyud ni mahuman ang gubot. kita ra ang mga ordinaryong tao ang giilad ani nila.

[masterjanuarius]

kay nakakita man ug weakness ang mga ASG sa government stand, hulga na sad sila nga pugutan ug ulo kung dili mag pull out sa jolo ang military! it is tantamount as surrendering a part of the country to these criminals ... kinahanglan dili padala sa hulga ang gobyerno kay usa ra ka lingwahe ang kahibloan sa mga ASG: violence! siguro, maayo nga i mit sad nila: identify the relatives of these band ug i barricade sad sa mga militar para equal footing sila .. against human rights? Na, unsa na lang ang gihimo aning mga ASG ... wa man idenounce sa mga human rights group! ilisan na lang kaha nila ang mga bihag nga red cross ug kining mag sige ug singgit ug human rights maoy magpa bihag bi ...

[saidox]

Gobyerno: Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad!! "UUbosin ko Lahi mo!!