A major military assault on Muslim kidnappers in the southern Philippines entered its second week Saturday with few tangible signs of progress and thousands of civilians forced to flee their homes.
The army predicted that the risky ground and air assault launched September 16 would take three days to one week to achieve its objectives -- rescuing all 19 hostages unharmed and crushing the Abu Sayyaf which had humiliated the government for months.
"This won't last long," said presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno at the time.
The number of hostages has shrunk to 17 but two French television journalists who emerged from the jungles of Jolo island Wednesday made it clear they freed themselves.
They said the assault created the conditions for their escape and Jean-Jacques Le Garrec praised President Joseph Estrada for his courage in taking the "very, very difficult decision."
Once back in Paris they changed their tune and spoke out strongly against the apparently indiscriminate bombing. Manila responded angrily, dubbing the pair "ingrates."
On Thursday troops were said to have pinpointed the location of American hostage Jeffrey Schilling and his kidnappers and were said to be closing in on them.
But the next day Schilling was able to talk to his mother by phone in a conversation broadcast live by a local radio station.
In this conversation and in an earlier broadcast the American also strongly criticised the assault, saying it was taking a heavy toll on civilians and endangering his own life.
There is speculation that the bandit faction which holds Schilling may even have taken him out of Jolo.
Faction leader Abu Sabaya, who also took part in the broadcast, hinted in a phone conversation with the radio station that his faction was no longer in Jolo. He noted that there was no cellular phone signal on the island.
A legislator, Asani Tamang, was separately quoted as saying Sabaya's faction and Schilling had fled by boat.
A total of 13 Filipinos and three Malaysians are also held. The captives have been split between different factions of the ragtag kidnap group, who term themselves Muslim freedom fighters but seem motivated only by ransom money.
Millions of dollars has reportedly been paid for Westerners and Malaysians freed earlier, with the apparent tacit approval of overseas governments.
The Abu Sayyaf responded by seizing three more Malaysians in a copycat kidnapping September 10, causing an exasperated Estrada to declare that "enough is enough."
There has been no confirmation of whether all the hostages are still on the 897 sq km (345 square miles) island and other details of the assault are vague. Authorities have barred journalists from visiting Jolo.
According to officlal military briefings two civilians have been killed and four wounded. Six soldiers or police have been wounded and none killed.
Some 25 Abu Sayyaf members have been confirmed killed and the total may be 50-60 according to intelligence reports, the military says.
There has been no explanation of how so many kidnappers could have been killed without a single military fatality. Roland Madura, the second French hostage, said he never saw or heard any ground attack -- only apparently indiscriminate bombing.
At least 15,000 people have fled their homes, either to evacuation centres in Jolo town and elsewhere on the island or by boat to Zamboanga City on the main island of Mindanao.
Some have reported seeing dead and wounded civilians -- one said ten were killed in a single attack. The reports have been impossible to confirm.
On Friday evening armed forces chief of staff General Angelo Reyes told journalists they would be taken on a "guided tour" of Jolo either Sunday or Monday.
The military's new timeframe for the costly operation remains unclear.
As early as Monday a retired military commander in the south, Delfin Castro, warned that the one-week deadline was "very optimistic."
Three months or more was realistic, he said -- ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP)
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