Filipino raiders behead another hostage

The Philippine government has vowed to crush the Abu Sayyaf

By Rufi Vigilar
Special to CNN

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine military troops found a fifth beheaded body in the southern island province of Basilan late Friday, as they hunted down Abu Sayyaf gunmen for a kidnapping and killing spree a day earlier.

The Southern Command based in the neighboring province of Zamboanga said it was confirming reports that two other corpses have been found in the Basilan jungles.

The Abu Sayyaf is suspected of kidnapping more than 30 Christian civilians Thursday night in the town of Lamitan and beheading four of them.

Two hostages escaped while nine others were released to relay the kidnap group's demand to stop a military offensive.

One of the two survivors, Ian Rebollos, 17, told reporters: "I fought back and grabbed the rifle of the one who guarded me."

AUDIO CNN's Maria Ressa reports on the kidnapping. 393KB / 36sec AIFF or WAV sound   CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

The other was attacked by the bandits with machetes and played dead. He was found by pursuing troops and was taken to hospital for treatment, the army said.

The Abu Sayyaf is holding at least 21 other hostages on Basilan, including a U.S. missionary couple kidnapped in May.

Peace deal

Thursday's attack came as the two larger Muslim groups in the Philippines signed a unity agreement that could lead to an overall peace deal with the government.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told a news conference: "War is never one-sided so my reaction to all this is that as a government we cannot be blackmailed."

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the agreement in Malaysia.

The MNLF agreed to a peace deal with the government in the 1980s and the MILF is in talks with Manila on ending its decades-long insurrection.

The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of the three groups and government officials say it uses the banner of Muslim independence only to gain local sympathy.

They say it is mostly a grouping of bandits and other lawless elements. Millions of dollars in ransom changed hands and then was used by the kidnappers to buy arms.

The Philippine military has launched intensive operations to rescue the hostages, but so far to little avail.

The Abu Sayyaf first gained international notoriety last year when it abducted more than 40 Westerners and Asians in a four-month hostage crisis.