A US missionary and a Filipina nurse were killed Friday as an attempt by the Philippine military to rescue them from Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels after more than a year of captivity ended in tragedy.
"He is dead," Philippine military chief General Roy Cimatu told reporters in Manila, referring to Martin Burnham, who was held captive together with his wife, Gracia Burnham, and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yah.
Gracia Burnham was rescued but suffered a leg wound and was treated at a hospital in the southern Philippines, the military's deputy chief of staff Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya said.
The military said she was out of danger and would be flown to the US military base in Okinawa along with her husband's body.
The US couple from Kansas were kidnapped in an Abu Sayyaf raid on a Philippine tourist resort in May 2001 and taken to the south where they had been confined to the island of Basilan.
Yap, a Filipina nurse, who was kidnapped several days later, was also killed in Friday's rescue attempt near the town of Sirawai in the Zamboanga peninsula, Cimatu said.
A local logging firm worker, Edwin Rosene, 21, who was taken captive this week and used as a human shield by the rebels, escaped after troops shot his captors dead, Army Scout Rangers Colonel Renato Padua said.
Four Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed and seven soldiers were wounded in the firefight, which continued in the mountainous area into late afternoon, officials said.
President Gloria Arroyo vowed to "finish" off the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as she offered condolences to the relatives of the Burnhams.
"I am deeply saddened over the death of Martin Burnham and one of our very own, Ediborah Yap, who were slain in an encounter between our troops and the Abu Sayyaf after more than a year in captivity," Arroyo said in a statement.
She defended the military, saying "our soldiers tried their best to hold their fire for their (the hostages') safety. I salute our troops for their forbearance".
"The terrorists shall not be allowed to get away with this. We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished. I ask our people to be vigilant. The battle shall go on, wherever it takes us."
US General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, immediately distanced US forces from participation in the bloody rescue attempt.
"What I know is the Philippine armed forces made a hostage rescue, that in that rescue attempt, Mr. Burnham was killed, Mrs. Burnham was wounded, not life threatening, and that Mrs. Yap, the Filipion hostage was killed," Myers told journalists at the end of a NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels.
He said that "to the best of my knowledge there was no US involvement".
Philippine National Security Adviser Roleo Golez also said he had discussed the events with the American ambassador to Manila, Francis Ricciardone, who had assured him the United States held the Abu Sayyaf "fully responsible" for Martin Burnham's death.
US President George W. Bush expressed his grief over Martin Burnham's death.
"First let me say how sad we are that Martin Burnham lost his life," said Bush. "I'm pleased that Mrs. Burnham is alive. That's good."
It was unclear how, or when, the Abu Sayyaf gang moved out of Basilan where they were being pursued by 5,000 Filipino troops.
Over the past four months, 1,000 US military advisers have been training Filipino troops based in Basilan going after the Abu Sayyaf, a band of Muslim guerrillas with reputed links to Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Army Scout Rangers Colonel Renato Padua said Martin Burnham, 42, a Wichita, Kansas native who grew up in the Philippines "was executed by the Abu Sayyaf rebels" when they realized a rescue attempt was underway.
Gracia Burnham, 43, "was grazed by a bullet in the leg but is pronounced out of danger already," Teodosio said.
Unconfirmed reports said Yap was killed after suffering bullet wounds.
Martin Burnham's mother, Oreta Burnham, told Philippine television network GMA that the couple's three children were still unaware of the fate of their father.
"Gracia, we talked to your mom and we really remember you and are praying for you. We love you very much," Oreta Burnham said in a message aired over the network.
The Burnham children were staying with Gracia's parents, she said.
"The other grandparents are going to break the news soon. It's a hard situation. We don't know what our plans are," she said.
(China Daily June 8, 2002)
