U.S. hostage calls for cease-fire in southern Philippines

Schilling

September 21, 2000
Web posted at: 9:38 AM HKT (0138 GMT)

By staff and wire reports

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- An American being held hostage by Muslim rebels broadcast a message over a Philippine radio station Thursday in what was the first sign he was alive since the military launched an assault on guerrilla bases.

Jeffrey Schilling, from Oakland, California, appealed in the phone call to the dxRZ radio station for negotiations on his release and said the military assault on the island of Jolo, which started on Saturday, was killing mostly civilians.

Radio station officials said the call came in on Wednesday night. Schilling and his captors have called the station previously.

AUDIO American Hostage Jeffrey Schilling speaks to the Radio Mindanao Network 975K/27 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Transcript: "Well the troops believe they can eliminate Abu Sayyaf, but the group will escape as soon as I am dead and will just continue to kidnap foreigners so I am appealing to the negotiators to talk to the United States government to have the operation ceased and negotiations continued."     MESSAGE BOARD Philippine kidnappings

"I am appealing to the negotiators to talk to the United States government, have the operation immediately ceased and negotiations continue," Schilling said in a partly inaudible broadcast.

CNN's Veronica Pedrosa reported that it was unknown whether Schilling made the appeal under pressure.

Schilling was taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila, on August 28 and is one of 17 hostages held there by various factions of the group. Four are non-Filipinos -- Schilling and three Malaysians.

Two French television journalists held elsewhere on Jolo escaped from their captors on Tuesday night and fled to safety after stopping a military truck.

One of them, Jean-Jacques Le Garrec, told Reuters he had not seen any rebel casualties from the assault but many civilians appeared to have been killed.

"The majority that will be affected (by the military operation) will be civilians and what this will do is this will create further support for Abu Sayyaf," Schilling said.

"Therefore the operation will fail even if all members (of the Abu Sayyaf) are killed...there will be resistance and hostility to the government because of the actions toward the civilians."

Jolo, a small, tadpole-shaped island, is home to about 400,000 people, most desperately poor and subsisting on fishing and farming.

A rebel spokesman, who also talked to the radio station, repeated threats to execute the hostages and said hundreds of soldiers had been killed in the assaults.

"This is my last message to the Philippine government...we will execute all the foreigners."

Asked about casualties in the assault, he said: "On our side, maybe four but among soldiers, hundreds have died. The government is resorting to a news blackout because it is humiliating for them to admit that hundreds are dying on their side."

The Philippines has said seven rebels and four civilians have so far been killed in the assault and that four soldiers have been wounded.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Philippine Information Agency
Library of Congress Country Studies: Philippines
Terrorist Group Profiles: Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Shooting the MILF, Photo Essay
Understanding Islam and Muslims
Human Rights in Islam: The Political Framework Of Islam
Governments on the WWW: Philippines

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