Kidnapped US missionary killed

An American missionary held hostage for over a year by Muslim rebels in the Philippines was killed and his wife wounded but rescued yesterday when Philippine troops tried to free them.

A Filipina nurse held hostage by the same Abu Sayyaf rebels, linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, was also killed in a tragic ending to the protracted hostage drama on Mindanao island in the south, officials said.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told US President George W. Bush her government would hold the rebels accountable for Martin Burnham's death.

"She assured me that the Philippine government would hold the terrorist group accountable for how they treated these Americans, that justice would be done," Bush told reporters in Washington.

In Manila, Arroyo said the Abu Sayyaf would not be allowed to get away. "We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," she said, announcing the death of Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap.

Burnham's wife, Gracia, was recovering in hospital with a bullet wound to the leg sustained in the fighting during heavy rain in the jungle of Zamboanga del Norte province in Mindanao, 800 kilometres south of Manila, officials said.

The Burnhams were from Wichita, Kansas. Four rebels were killed and at least seven Philippine troops wounded in the fighting that erupted during what the US military said was a rescue attempt launched after troops surrounded some 40 rebels and their captives in a forest where they had sought shelter.

"At the first volley of fire, Mrs Burnham immediately ran. That was when soldiers were able to rescue her and brought her to a helicopter," Brigadier-General Eduardo Purificacion said.

Domestic television channels said the guerillas killed Burnham during the battle but officials said they did not know if he was killed by his captors or in cross-fire.

Philippines military chief Roy Cimatu told reporters US troops training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism in the southern Philippines were not involved in the fighting.

Burnham's family said it was thankful his wife had survived. "Obviously it hasn't turned out the way we were expecting it to turn out," Martin Burnham's brother, Doug, said in a statement. "But we are thankful that Gracia is alive and... our faith in the Lord is still the same. It doesn't change and that's what we're going to hang on to."

The missionaries' three children had been on vacation with their grandparents but are heading for Kansas, said Martin Burnham's mother, Oreta. The children have been with the elder Burnhams since the kidnapping.

The New Tribes Mission, to which the Burnhams belonged, said it was saddened by the news and asked people to pray for Gracia and her children, as well as for all "who have been affected by this difficult and tragic news."

Footprints found on a jungle trail led to the rescue operation a year and 11 days after the Burnhams were kidnapped.

Brigadier-General Emmanuel Teodosio of the Philippines, co-director of the training exercises, said on radio he did not know if Abu Sayyaf leaders were among those killed. Philippine media said they appeared to have escaped.

Gracia was initially treated at Zamboanga military hospital and then flown to Manila, where she was taken in an ambulance to a hospital in the presidential palace grounds.

On arrival in Manila, Gracia, covered with sheets, was brought down in a stretcher from a military aircraft by two US servicemen while US ambassador Francis Ricciardone stood by.

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Ricciardone told him the United States held the Abu Sayyaf responsible for the death of Gracia's husband.

The Burnhams, married for 19 years, were among three Americans abducted by the guerillas from a resort off Palawan island in the country's southwest.

The rebels beheaded Californian tourist Guillermo Sobero, last June after the hostages were taken to a rebel lair on Basilan island, 900 kilometres south of the capital, Manila.

Officials said Philippine troops had recently learned that the Abu Sayyaf had slipped out of Basilan and moved their captives to the nearby Zamboanga peninsula.

More than 1,000 US troops are helping Manila crush the Abu Sayyaf, which Washington has linked to Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The Abu Sayyaf claim to be fighting for an independent Muslim state in the south of predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, but their chief occupation seems to be kidnappings for ransom.

In April 2000, Abu Sayyaf rebels abducted 21 mostly foreign hostages from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan and took them to Jolo island, near Basilan. The operation earned the guerillas international notoriety and an estimated $20 million in ransom.