Hide and seek hunt for Philippine kidnappers

The Abu Sayyaf's latest kidnapping occurs just before peace talks with another Muslim rebel group

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Geography and limited resources are making it difficult for the Philippine military to pursue Muslim rebels who are holding hostage three American and 17 Filipino resort guests.

The Philippines said on Wednesday it had still not located the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers nor the kidnap victims, seized from the upmarket Dos Palmas resort in the western Philippine province of Palawan.

The Abu Sayyaf claimed to have taken their hostages to hideouts in Jolo and Basilan -- island provinces in the southern Philippines that are known rebel strongholds.

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"There are more than 34 islands around Basilan, 37 around Jolo, and any of these islands may be used as sanctuaries by these kidnappers so we are looking for them there," Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said.

"It takes time, it takes manpower, it takes aircraft, ships, to verify this. That's why we are calling on all citizens to help the government, to help the military, to help the police in providing information."

"We hope that in the next few hours, or thereabouts, we will get more concrete information about these hostages," Adan added.

Foreign assistance

Adan said the Philippine and U.S. governments were discussing the hostage situation but he declined to give details.

American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham

A U.S. State Department spokesman said the United States will not pay a ransom to free the three Americans among the 20 hostages taken form the Palawan resort.

Spokesman Philip Reeker said that all kidnap victims must be freed "immediately, safely and unconditionally."

"The United States roundly condemns this latest act of terrorism by this group, and we remain in close touch with the government of the Philippines about the matter," he added.

The three Americans taken hostage from the Palawan resort include missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, from Wichita, Kansas, who have been in the Philippines for 15 years.

The third is diving enthusiast Guillermo Sobero from Corona, California, who spent his 40th birthday in captivity on Tuesday.

The United States and the Philippines have strong military ties and U.S. troops and naval vessels have begun to arrive for joint exercises set to begin on June 1.

News blackout

The military still has to verify that the Abu Sayyaf had indeed taken their hostages to Jolo or Basilan, island provinces off Zamboanga.

A rebel spokesman called a Zamboanga radio station Tuesday and threatened to kill the hostages, trying to stave off a military offensive.

The station said Wednesday it would no longer accept calls from the rebel group, observing a news blackout urged by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The news blackout aims to ensure the safety of the hostages and the success of military rescue efforts, while denying the rebel kidnappers a means to air their demands.

General Adan said resuce operations "would be a complex operations" that is "not risk-free."

Arroyo announced a reward of 100 million pesos ($2 million) for information leading to the capture of the rebel kidnappers.

But the government stressed it would not pay ransom to free the hostages.

Police have said some villagers have reported seeing the kidnappers and the hostages on Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila, but the reports had not been confirmed.

Recurrent nightmare

The Abu Sayyaf last year seized more than 40 people, including Western tourists, from a resort in neighboring Malaysia and held them for months before freeing them in return for ransoms of up to $1 million per hostage.

Officials say much of the ransom money was used to buy sophisticated arms, powerful speedboats, and other equipment.

In April, the military rescued American hostage Jeffrey Schilling from the Abu Sayyaf which had threatened to behead him.

Schilling was one of two remaining hostages of the rebel group after last year's hostage crisis. The other is Filipino Roland Ullah, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The Philippine government has dismissed the Abu Sayyaf as a group of bandits and left it out of peace talks due in June with the larger Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.