The mission agency of two American hostages in the Philippines is distancing itself from a failed attempt by relatives to secure their release.
The agreement to free Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held by Islamic rebels for nearly a year, reportedly involved a ransom payment, which is contrary to the policy of Florida-based New Tribes Mission. Most organizations forbid such transactions because they tend to encourage further kidnapping.
New Tribes Mission was not aware the family members were involved in a deal until they revealed it to mission representatives in confidence on Saturday, the group said yesterday.
Martin Burnham’s father, Paul Burnham, read a statement yesterday over Radio Mindanao accusing the Abu Sayyaf group of reneging on a deal to free his son and daughter-in-law, the Associated Press reported. The U.S. links the Abu Sayyaf to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.
The discussions involved possible payments of several hundred thousand dollars, according to senior U.S. officials who monitored the negotiations.
New Tribes Mission insisted it was not involved in any deal.
“The mission was not consulted about this agreement,” the group said. “The families acted independently of NTM. New Tribes Mission maintains its policy to not pay ransom.”
Martin, 42, and Gracia, 43, were kidnapped on May 27, 2001, at a resort off the island of Palawan in the southern Philippines. A third American captured along with the Burnhams, Californian Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded last June. Another 14 hostages, all Filipinos, have been killed and others have escaped or were released. Only the Burnhams and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap remain.
Videos of the Burnhams and messages released by the Abu Sayyaf indicate the couple is in poor health. In December, NTM spokesman Scott Ross told WorldNetDaily he feared they would not live much longer under their conditions. The three hostages are being forced along on foot through the jungles of mountainous Basilan Island, more than 500 miles south of Manila.
In a call to Radio Mindanao from his home in Wichita, Kan., Paul Burnham said the Abu Sayyaf had added conditions to a finalized deal that would have included the release of Yap.
The agreement was reached March 13 through a mediator, Abu Sulaiman, the Associated Press reported. Paul Burnham said that Sulaiman told the family March 19 that the Abu Sayyaf had agreed to a five-day window on freeing the hostages.
“But it now seems that they do not intend to keep their promises to us, and can any family believe the promises of the Abu Sayyaf in the future?” Paul Burnham said. “Is it futile to make agreements with them?”
In December, the Burnham family and mission agency representatives met with State Department officials who assured them that Washington would take a more active role in the rescue effort. Since then, the U.S. has sent special forces to Basilan to help local troops wipe out the Abu Sayyaf. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has refused to offer ransom for the missionaries and has vowed to destroy the rebel group.
Two years ago, the Philippines government, under former President Joseph Estrada, negotiated a ransom deal with the Abu Sayyaf in the release of some of 21 Western tourists taken from a Malaysian resort. The exchange of up to $1 million per hostage was criticized by the Philippine military, which said the Abu Sayyaf used the ransom money to buy new boats and weapons.
Kidnappings and bomb attacks on Christian targets have been attributed to the Abu Sayyaf since the early 1990s. The group has fought with other rebels to establish a Muslim state in the southern Philippines, an insurgency that has resulted in about 120,000 deaths.
A purported Abu Sayyaf representative claimed responsibility for two bombings in the area on Sunday that killed 15 people and injured 71. Two arrested suspects said further attacks were planned, according to police.
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