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Sea hunt for Philippines resort raiders

A resort island
Philippines islands attract tourists with good beaches, diving and snorkelling  


By Staff and wire reports

PUERTO PRINCENSA, Philippines -- A large air and sea hunt is on for kidnappers who abducted 20 people, including tourists, in a dawn raid on a Philippines beach resort.

Gunmen wearing ski masks struck on the western Philippine island of Palawan at 5 am on Sunday, escaping in a motor boat with about 20 hostages, among them an American missionary couple and at least one child.

The raiders held staff at gunpoint at the Dos Palmas resort at Honda Bay in Palawan province while others roused tourists sleeping in cottages built on stilts over the water.

Palawan, 375 miles southwest of Manila, is a popular international destination for diving and snorkelling and is further north than where previous Philippines kidnappings have taken place.

Authorities quickly mounted a large operation involving planes, helicopters and patrol boats to try to head off the kidnappers. One official said: "The armed group will be pursued and destroyed."

National security adviser Roilo Golez said a military surveillance plane spotted what looked like the boat apparently heading toward Malaysia.

He said a joint military patrol at the sea border could block the abductors, but he refused to divulge what the military planned to do if they confirm the boat actually contained the abductors and their hostages.

Missionary couple

The American missionaries were identified as Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kansas. They have lived in the Philippines since about 1986 and have been working for the New Tribes Mission, said Tim Grossman, who was at the organization's Manila office Sunday.

Government troops holding guns
Troops killed several Abu Sayyaf members last month as Arroyo ordered a raid on the rebels  

Martin has spent most of his life in the Philippines, Grossman said, and the couple -- both children of missionaries -- had been living in Nueva Vizcaya province in the northern part of the country.

He said mission members heard of the abduction while at church. The couple had flown to the resort on Saturday.

Police declined to speculate about the identity of the kidnappers but the men spoke in Tausog, a Muslim language used in the southern island of Mindanao. Tausog is used by the Abu Sayyaf rebel group.

Military spokesman General Ediberto Adan told Reuters: "They were terrorists from the south. We have not identified their specific group . . . We have launched pursuit operations."

Abu Sayyaf

The Abu Sayyaf, a separatist group whose goal is an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country, last year seized more than 40 tourists and Filipinos from two resorts in nearby Malaysia and from Jolo island in the southern Philippines.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said in a radio interview that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was closely monitoring the developments and was receiving "minute-by-minute updates".

"The government policy is no ransom, no negotiation," he said.

Resorts on alert

Police said they had no reports of any shots being fired or of any injuries in the raid.

All other tourist resorts on Palawan have been put on alert and Navy ships as well air force helicopters had stepped up security around the island, the military said.

"We are now scouring the shores of Palawan. It is an open sea and our aircraft and all available Navy vessels are scouring the area," Villanueva said.

It was the second attack by gunmen on a tourist resort in the country's volatile south in five days.

Just before midnight last Tuesday gunmen attacked a tourist resort on the southern island of Samal, killing two people and snatching two Filipino hostages, who were later released.

Troops are chasing the gang, which retreated to the mountains after snatching four villagers to use as human shields.

Reuters contributed to this report.








RELATED SITES:
• The Abu Sayyaf
• Philippines Department of Tourism
• Philippines Government
• Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs

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