Posted on 06/07/2002 1:32:47 AM PDT by HAL9000
Killed Burnham, its wounded but released wife
Friday June 07, 2002 - 8h27 GMT
ZAMBOANGA (the Philippines), June 7 (AFP) - the American hostage Martin Burhnam was killed while his wife, blessée, were released at the time of an operation of help carried out by the army philippine Friday, indicated a General Filipino to the AFP.
The General was not able to specify the gravity of the wounds of Gracia Burnham.
Killed Burnham, its wounded but released wife
Friday June 07, 2002 - 8h35 GMT
ZAMBOANGA (the Philippines), June 7 (AFP) - an American hostage held by islamists in the south of the Philippines was killed while his wife, blessée, were released at the time of an operation of help carried out by the army of Manila cigar Friday, indicated a General Filipino to the AFP.
The General declared that Martin Burnham had died and was not able to specify the gravity of the wounds of Gracia Burnham.
The couple of Protestant missionnaires was held since more than one year in the south of the Philippines by the group Abu Sayyaf.
They were kept on the island of Basilan whereas 5.000 soldiers Filipinos tried since months to come to end from the guérilleros with the assistance from a thousand of American soldiers serving advisers and trainers.
The couple originating in Kansas and which had spent fifteen years to the Philippines had chosen a seaside resort of the west of the archipelago to celebrate there its 18è anniversary of marriage last year.
May 27, 2001, of the guérilleros of the group Abu Sayyaf, known for its bloody taking of hostages, the paradise for tourists attacked and seized 20 people, of which Burnham, before regaining its stronghold of Basilan.
Abu Sayyaf, shown terrorism by the president George W Bush after the attacks of September 11, had decapitated in June of last year another American, a tourist, Guillermo Sobero, removed with the couple of missionnaires.
Martin Burnham slain, Gracia freed in rescue: report
Posted: 4:54 PM (Manila Time) | Jun. 07, 2002
Agence France-Presse
ZAMBOANGA – US hostage Martin Burnham was killed and his wife Gracia Burnham wounded but freed in a rescue attempt by the Philippine military on Friday, a Filipino general told Agence France-Presse. The Christian missionaries were taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas in the southern Philippines in May last year. "Martin is dead," the general said. "Gracia has been rescued, but she is wounded," he said without elaborating.
The rescue attempt was mounted in the early afternoon near the town of Siraway on Mindanao island's Zamboanga peninsula, said the general, who asked not to be named.
The Philippine military believes that for most of their ordeal, the Burnhams were held hostage on the nearby southern island of Basilan, where US troops are helping to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
The stinking Philippine government wouldn't allow our guys to go them. Jerks.
U.S. Missionary Hostage Killed in Fighting -Source
June 07, 2002 04:51 AM ET
MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. missionary Martin Burnham was killed and his wife Gracia wounded in heavy fighting on Friday between Philippine troops and Muslim guerrillas who have held them hostage for over a year, a senior Philippine official said.
"At 2:30 this afternoon (2:30 a.m. EDT), there was fighting in Zamboanga del Norte. Martin Burnham is dead," the official, asking not to be identified, told Reuters.
"Gracia was wounded and an extrication process is underway to recover her. This is confirmed information," the official said.
He said an official announcement was expected to be made shortly.
The Burnhams have been held hostage by Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden since May 27 last year after they were kidnapped from a Philippine tourist resort.
I want to put banana leaves on the kin of the moslem sort in the Phillipines!
BC-APNewsAlert,0026ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- One American hostage dies, another rescued in Philippine army raid on Muslim guerrilla hideout, officials say.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
I am not an expert on any field that would be concerned with rescuing hostages, but as an AMERICAN CITIZEN I say that was too long.
Now that the terrorists no longer have a 'hold' over us, can we help the Philippines rid themselves of this menace ?????
AFP: Hostage Martin Burnham died in crossfire
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu confirmed Friday afternoon that the Abu Sayyaf hostages nurse Ediborah Yap and Martin Burnham died, while his wife Gracia was wounded, in an armed clash between military troops and the bandits near the border area of Sirawai and Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte.
Gracia Burnham was rushed to the Southcom hospital in Zamboanga City for emergency medical treatment with American medics assisting.
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Martin Burnham, Ediborah Yap dead, Gracia freed in rescue
Posted: 5:06 PM (Manila Time) | Jun. 07, 2002
Agence France-Presse
ZAMBOANGA – US hostage Martin Burnham was killed and his wife Gracia Burnham wounded but freed in a rescue attempt by the Philippine military on Friday, a Filipino general told Agence France-Presse. Television reports said the Filipino hostage, nurse Ediborah Yap, was also killed. The Christian missionaries were taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas in the southern Philippines in May last year.
"Martin is dead," the general said. "Gracia has been rescued, but she is wounded," he said without elaborating.
The rescue attempt was mounted in the early afternoon near the town of Siraway on Mindanao island's Zamboanga peninsula, said the general, who asked not to be named.
The Philippine military believes that for most of their ordeal, the Burnhams were held hostage on the nearby southern island of Basilan, where US troops are helping to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
U.S. Hostage Dies in Philippines
By Associated Press
June 7, 2002, 5:05 AM EDT
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- One U.S. hostage died and another was wounded but rescued Friday when Philippine troops launched a strike on their Muslim extremist kidnappers in a southern fishing village, military officials said.
Martin Burnham, kidnapped more than a year ago along with his wife Gracia by Muslim extremists of the Abu Sayyaf group, was shot to death in the operation, said Gen. Roy Cimatu, the Philippine military chief of staff.
His wife was being treated in a military hospital for injuries suffered during the operation. The extent of those injuries was not clear.
Philippine officers said hundreds of elite troops equipped with night vision goggles and backed by U.S. surveillance technology launched the attack to try to rescue the Wichita, Kan., missionaries Friday as part of an extended rescue operation that has been going on for almost two weeks.
The Philippine military said intelligence showed that members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group infamous for beheading hostages and captive soldiers, were holed up with at least one of the Burnhams in a Muslim fishing village in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte.
The Light Reaction Company, a stealthy U.S.-trained unit equipped with silencers, night vision equipment and high-tech headsets, fanned out secretly throughout the area of coconut groves and farms in recent days after solid indications that at least one of the Burnhams was held near there.
The Burnhams were kidnapped May 27, 2001 by members of the Abu Sayyaf, which says it is fighting to carve a Muslim state out of the southern Philippines. The guerrillas kidnapped 18 other people along with the Burnhams, including 17 Filipinos and Corona, Calif., resident Guillermo Sobero.
Sobero was beheaded by the guerrillas in June 2001, according to U.S. and Filipino officials.
The Muslim fighters are thought to number only 60 or so from an original force of 1,000 after a year of army offensives.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
One American hostage apparently dies, another rescued but wounded in Philippine military raid on Muslim extremist kidnappers
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Jun 07, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- One U.S. hostage reportedly died and another was wounded but rescued Friday when Philippine troops launched a strike on Muslim extremist kidnappers in a southern fishing village, military officials said.
Martin Burnham, kidnapped more than a year ago along with his wife Gracia by Muslim extremists of the Abu Sayyaf group, was shot to death in the operation, said Gen. Roy Cimatu, the Philippine military chief of staff.
However, Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, commander of Philippine forces in the south, would not confirm that Martin Burnham had been killed. "We have reports from our troops that Martin has been shot and killed, but we still want to confirm that further," he said.
Carolina said that Gracia Burnham was being operated on in a military hospital in the southern city of Zamboanga.
"She's here already," Carolina told reporters. "She is being operated on. It's a gunshot wound. She's talking. I think she will live."
The extent of the injuries she suffered in the rescue operation were not clear.
Philippine officers said hundreds of elite troops equipped with night vision goggles and backed by U.S. surveillance technology launched the attack to try to rescue the Wichita, Kansas, missionaries Friday as part of an extended rescue operation that has been going on for almost two weeks.
The Philippine military said intelligence showed that members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group infamous for beheading hostages and captive soldiers, were holed up with at least one of the Burnhams in a Muslim fishing village in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte.
The Light Reaction Company, a stealthy U.S.-trained unit equipped with silencers, night vision equipment and high-tech headsets, fanned out secretly throughout the area of coconut groves and farms in recent days after solid indications that at least one of the Burnhams was held near there.
The Burnhams, missionaries from Wichita, Kansas, were kidnapped May 27 of last year by the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group which says it is fighting to carve a Muslim state out of the southern Philippines.
The guerrillas, thought to number only 60 or so from an original force of 1,000 after a year of army offensives, also kidnapped 18 others along with the Burnhams, including 17 Filipinos and Corona, California, resident Guillermo Sobero.
Sobero, reportedly ill, was beheaded last June by the guerrillas, according to U.S. and Filipino officials.
About 1,000 U.S. soldiers are in the southern Philippines, training local forces to better fight the Abu Sayyaf.
The extent of their involvement in the rescue mission wasn't immediately clear but they have used satellite technology and spy planes to pinpoint the hostages and their captors in the past.
By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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