Manila envoy cites
rebels’ decline

The new ambassador to America ends 5 days
in Hawaii where he met with Adm. Fargo

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Counterterrorism efforts in the Philippines have reduced the number of the radical Muslim separatists to 100 from 1,000 in the last year, said the new Philippine ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador Albert Del Rosario said that many members of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to al-Qaida, have been arrested or killed; others have surrendered or dropped out "because of the relentless pursuit by the military."

Del Rosario spoke with reporters yesterday at the Philippine Consulate in Nuuanu as he ended a five-day visit in Honolulu to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.

Del Rosario met this week with Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, who has recommended moving the Green Beret advisers on the southern Philippine island of Basilan closer to the hunt for Abu Sayyaf and their hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf has held Martin and Gracia Burnham, an American missionary couple, and a Filipino nurse since March 2001 on Basilan.

"They are alive, they are weak, but they are moving and they are being moved around," Del Rosario said of the hostages.

Describing the difficulty of the search in a forest with a thick canopy of trees, Del Rosario said, "If you're standing 10 feet away in the jungle, you're really not able to see beyond that distance."

He said the Abu Sayyaf is reputed to have distributed ransom money, perhaps $20 million, among area residents, many of whom are relatives and may be providing group protection.

About 1,200 U.S. troops, including a few based in Hawaii, are training Philippine soldiers but stay behind while the Filipino troops patrol. Whether U.S. advisers should join the Philippine patrols is being discussed, Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario said both militaries are assessing whether to expand the training mission, which began four months ago, or to extend it beyond the July 31 expiration period.

The Philippine government has offered $100,000 per head for the leaders of the group, and the United States also has offered a bounty for the leaders, he said.

Del Rosario said the Abu Sayyaf's "direct link to the al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden started to get hazy in 1995," but the group continues to claim the connection for "propaganda purposes."