ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerillas yesterday threatened to kill their 20 American and Filipino hostages after President Gloria Arroyo ruled out ransom payments and sent the military after them.
The gunmen have not issued any demands for the hostages they seized on Sunday from the western island resort of Dos Palmas and are holding them at an unknown location.
"We will not think twice to have a mass killing of the hostages once the military launches an all-out offensive," southern DXRZ radio quoted Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya as telling their station manager by telephone.
The captives include American Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, who are longtime Philippine residents originally from Kansas; and Californian Guillermo Sobero.
The self-styled Islamic independence fighters beheaded two Filipino captives in another kidnapping spree in the south last year, during which they held nearly a hundred captives at one point.
They also killed a hostage Roman Catholic priest during a military rescue attempt.
"It would do you good to release your hostages while there is still time. If not, we will rain bullets on you," Arroyo warned the kidnappers in a television statement while again ruling out any ransom payments.
"When there is a war, you know what the priorities are and there is a war going on now in that part of the Philippines," she said.
She also imposed a news blackout and warned the press to clear out of the crisis zone, saying: "It's their lookout if they get kidnapped."
Aides said Arroyo summoned media executives to an emergency meeting at the presidential palace last night.
She appealed to them to deny the Abu Sayyaf an outlet for their threats, saying it would only serve to "embolden them".
"It's not a patriotic act to give them a forum," she said.
Last year's captives, held in Basilan and Jolo islands, included 21 western tourists seized from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan, school teachers and students from Basilan, and journalists who went to Jolo to cover the crisis.
Most of the foreigners were ransomed off for millions of dollars over four months, while the rest were freed after the military attacked their Jolo and Basilan bases. The gunmen still hold one Filipino captive from the Sipadan raid.
Sabaya has claimed that 10 of the new lot of hostages, including the three Americans, are with him in Basilan, but the government said the statement could have been meant to mislead the military. -- Sapa-AFP