Posted on 07/23/2002 12:57:44 PM PDT by The Energizer
Feds Charge 5 in Missionary's Death
By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON=
Associated Press Writer=
WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department announced indictments Tuesday against five alleged leaders of the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf for a kidnapping spree that led to the death of an American missionary and several others in the Philippines.
None of the five men indicted were in custody, Department officials said. But the indictment details the command structure of a group that the United States considers a top target in its war against terrorism.
It also gives U.S. authorities the grounds upon which to seek extradition of the men if they are captured.
``The United States sends a signal: We will work to track down and prosecute all those who commit barbaric acts of terrorism here at home and abroad,'' said Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.
President Bush dispatched more than 1,000 U.S. troops to the Philippines this year to help that nation's armed forces track down Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who the Americans say have ties to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.
The federal indictments identified the five as Khadafi Abubakar Janjalani, spiritual leader of the group; Isnilon Totoni Hapilon, the second in command; Aldam Tilao, spokesman; Jainal Antel Sali Jr., an intelligence officer; and Hamsiraji Marusi Sali, a group leader.
The men are charged with conspiracy resulting in death, hostage-taking and three counts of hostage-taking resulting in death.
The indictments come a month after the leader of the group died at sea in a fight against U.S.-trained Philippine government forces. That man went by the name of Abu Sabaya.
Thompson announced the charges at a Justice Department news conference.
The Abu Sayyaf band has terrorized the southern Philippines with a string of kidnappings in May 2001. Some of their hostages were killed, others escaped and the rest were freed, reportedly for large ransoms.
Among those taken hostage were two American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif. On June 11, 2001, Sobero was beheaded and the Abu Sayyaf group claimed responsibility.
In June, Martin Burnham was killed in a military rescue mission, along with nurse Ediborah Yap and three of the guerrillas. Gracia Burnham was wounded with a gunshot to the thigh. Seven soldiers also were injured.
Gracia Burnham was scheduled to talk with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and meet with Bush in Washington on Wednesday.
American soldiers in the Philippines are prohibited from engaging in combat. Bush reportedly has approved moving the U.S. force closer to the combat zone for training purposes.
Filipino officials have said the U.S. mission would end as scheduled July 31, despite the fact that many local residents have sought to extend the U.S. presence to ensure that Abu Sayyaf is wiped out and that the U.S. military infrastructure projects are completed.
Indeed. I do hope to hear her interviewed one day.
I read that the widowed husband in the other case, which took place in the skies over Peru, recently settled with the federal government to the tuned of several million dollars.
Freed Missionary Hails Indictments
By LIBBY QUAID=
Associated Press Writer=
WASHINGTON (AP) The Kansas missionary who survived 377 days of captivity in the Philippines jungle called the indictments of her kidnappers ``a positive first step'' toward justice.
Gracia Burnham met Wednesday with U.S. officials here and was to meet President Bush later in the day.
She and her husband, Martin, and a Filipino nurse were the last hostages held by the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders were indicted Tuesday.
``The men who abducted us and held us, who murdered some and mistreated others, who kept us running and starving in the jungle, are criminals and deserve to be punished,'' Burnham told reporters during a Capitol Hill news conference.
Burnham was wounded in the military rescue operation last month that killed her husband and nurse Ediborah Yap. Considered a top target in the United States' war against terrorism, Abu Sayyaf is said to have ties to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.
Five alleged leaders of Abu Sayyaf are under U.S. indictment, although none are in custody.
Her husband was kind to their captors, thanking them and wishing them a good evening each night as they chained him to a tree, Burnham said.
``But even though Martin was kind to them, we never forgot who the good guys were and who the bad guys were,'' she said.
Visiting the nation's capital with her three children, her parents and her husband's parents, Burnham said, ``We're surrounded here by memorials to Americans who were willing to give their lives for what they believed, and I guess Martin was one of those Americans.''
``We miss him today,'' she added, her voice breaking. ``He would have loved this visit.''
Burnham is settling near Wichita, Kan., where her children lived for the past year with her in-laws, Paul and Oreta Burnham. She asked for time and space to grieve, to build a new life with her family and to write a book about her experience.
Her work as a missionary is ``in transit'' and will be set aside for now, she said, adding that her children ``have changed drastically'' in the year since she and her husband were abducted from the resort where they were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary.
``My mission is going to be to raise three neat kids; they need a full-time parent, and I'm it,'' she said.
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