The Australian, August 23, 2002
Beheading of Christians 'a jihad'
By Kimina Lyall and AFP
THE death by beheading of two Jehovah's Witnesses captured by bandits connected
with the Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatists is part of a "jihad" against Christians in the
southern Philippines, the military believes.
A letter discovered beside the heads of the two men dumped in a local fruit market on
the island of Jolo described the action as a warning to those who do not believe in
Allah, the island's military chief said yesterday.
"A letter was found from one of the heads warning that those who do not believe in
Allah will suffer the same fate. They said what they did was jihad," said
Brigadier-General Romeo Tolentino.
"The kidnappers are terrorists, animals and barbarians."
The dead men are Lionel Mantic and Lemuel Montolo. Four female colleagues, also
Jehovah's Witnesses, are still being held captive by the group, which is led by the
nephew of a local Abu Sayyaf commander, after their minibus was hijacked on
Tuesday.
The kidnappings occurred in an area notorious for local bandits, but the relatives had
received no demands for ransom by yesterday. A spokesman for the Jehovah's
Witnesses in Manila, Dean Jacek, said yesterday he did not believe the kidnappings
and killings were religiously motivated, as the group had been on the island rebel
stronghold for business reasons, rather than on a religious mission.
The hostages were door-to-door salespeople for the Avon cosmetics company and the
religious organisation "does not make it a practice to combine preaching with
business", Mr Jacek said.
Relatives of the hostages also insisted that the group, who are all Filipino locals from
Zamboanga City on the large nearby island of Mindanao, had not been engaged in
converting the predominantly Muslim local population.
Tirso Bendijo, whose wife Nori is among the remaining hostages, said in a televised
appeal to the kidnappers: "We are very, very poor and if a ransom is demanded we
will not be able to meet it."
However, national security adviser Roilo Golez said he believed the attack was
religiously motivated, because it was unusual for such kidnappings to occur without
demands for ransom.
The kidnappings are the the most serious sign of Abu Sayyaf activity since the
departure last month of US special forces training the Philippine military to deal with
the group, named by the US as a terrorist organisation.
The US training was largely focused on the nearby island of Basilan, which was home
to a band of Abu Sayyaf rebels who held US missionary couple Martin and Gracia
Burnham hostage for more than a year.
Mrs Burnham was freed and Mr Burnham died in a rescue operation in June.
The military have sent 2000 troops to Jolo to track down the latest kidnappers.
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