Abu Sayyaf calls for hostage talks

U.S. troops in Philippines: 'Welcome to the party'

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf has reportedly offered to negotiate the release of two Americans and a Filipino nurse it has held hostage for more than 11 months.

The report, by a Philippine radio station, comes as the United States claims the group has already received a hefty ransom but reneged on handing over the kidnap victims.

The Radio Mindanao Network quoted Abu Sabaya, leader of Abu Sayyaf, as saying the group was open to "last deal" talks with regional Muslim Governor Parouk Hussin, presidential adviser Norberto Gonzales and an unidentified Malaysian.

The ransom issue could, however, impede any planned negotiations.

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"We deny the statement ... that they gave us $300,000," Sabaya said in the radio interview broadcast on Monday.

Sabaya said the hostages were "in good health".

The family of kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham said last week they had made a deal with the guerrillas to release the couple but that the Abu Sayyaf reneged. They hinted at, but did not explicitly mention, a ransom.

The group, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, is holding the Burnhams and nurse Ediborah Yap on Basilan island. The trio are the last of dozens of hostages seized during a kidnapping spree last year.

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Last week, Martin Burnham's father, Paul, said the Abu Sayyaf reneged on a March 13 agreement to release the couple and Yap. He did not specify conditions for release.

But officials in Washington have said that $300,000 in privately raised money was handed over to a representative of the guerrillas.

Sabaya called the station in the southern port city of Zamboanga twice on Sunday. Station manager Rey Bayogin said only one call was taped which was broadcast on Monday.

U.S. military presence

The United States has sent about 1,000 soldiers, including 160 from Special Forces and 340 military engineers, for a six-month mission to train Filipino troops to better fight the Abu Sayyaf.

Reacting to the U.S. military presence, Sabaya said, "All I can say to the U.S. government ... is 'welcome to the party'.'

He said despite the massive military rescue operation and the presence of U.S. troops, "I am still kicking and alive. I'm fine and alive."

"It's really an embarrassment because the superpower can't do anything to us," he said.

On Sunday, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited U.S. soldiers involved in the exercise in Zamboanga and nearby Basilan island, Associated Press reported.

He said al Qaeda networks operated in 60 countries around the world, including several in Southeast Asia.

"Wherever they are -- whether they are here in Southeast Asia or whether they are in the United States or whether they are in the Middle East -- we need to do our best to disrupt them and ensure they can't bring harm to innocent civilians and our children and our grandchildren," he said.