Diary showing Schilling two-year Sayyaf mole
alarms Washington
By Charmaine C. Deogracias , Faber
Concepcion, and Manny Marinay
FEDERAL Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) officials and United States intelligence experts have reportedly
apologized for the trouble “hostage” Jeffrey Edward Schilling has caused the
Philippines, and confirmed his ties with the extremist Abu Sayyaf.
The commander
of the composite assault forces in Jolo, meantime, admitted the military was not prepared
for the September 16 military offensive against the extremist rebels.
AFP officers also
acknowledged most of the rebels had given them the slip, despite the massive air and
ground bombardment and naval blockade, citing reports of wounded guerrillas surfacing in
islets around Sulu and in Basilan province.
Maj. General
Narciso Abaya, commander officer of the 1st Infantry Division and chief of Task Force
Trident, blamed the AFP’s lack of preparation on Malacañang’s order to pull
back troops in the vicinity of Talipao and Patikul towns during negotiations for the
release of Sipadan island hostages.
After keeping mum
about Schilling, FBI officials finally confided to the Philippine government this week the
US’s consternation over the Muslim convert’s involvement with the terrorist
fringe of Islam, according to diplomatic sources.
The same sources
also quoted new military intelligence reports as saying the American had visited Basilan
two years ago to sell camouflage uniforms, night-vision goggles and some weapons to the
Abu Sayyaf.
Still in Jolo
Schilling,
intelligence experts added, is still in Jolo within the range of government forces. The
FBI reportedly monitored a satellite phone call from the American to his mother, Carol,
last Wednesday, 5:40 p.m.
The alleged
hostage had informed the US Embassy in Manila that he had been taken out of Jolo on a
speedboat at the height of the military assault.
Military officers,
however, raised the possibility that the “captive” might actually shoot at his
“rescuers,” given the fundamentalist ranting in his diary, which was earlier
recovered from an Abu Sayyaf camp.
Both the FBI and
the US Central Intelligence Agency have been furnished copies of the alleged Schilling
diary although there has yet to be an independent confirmation of its authenticity.
Among Schilling’s
entries were letters for his live-in partner Ivy Osani and mother, Carol, which supposedly
showed the American’s fundamentalist bent.
But the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) maintained that in the absence of a proof to the contrary,
Schilling is still regarded as a hostage and his case, just another kidnapping.
Back to Sipadan/Pandanan Hostages News
Back
to This Week's Borneo News |
