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| Southeast Asia |
| Former captive sez Abu Sayyaf is a gang of lying thugs |
| 2004-08-11 |
| A former American hostage who returned to the Philippines to testify in court revealed that her Muslim extremist captors violated their own "code of honor" and abused women hostages, court documents showed Tuesday. Missionary Gracia Burnham, from Rose Hill, Kan. near Wichita testified in a local court last Thursday, but for security reasons journalists were not allowed to witness her testimony on her year-long nightmare in the jungles of the southern Philippines. The court released an official transcript Tuesday. Burnham, 45, was abducted by Abu Sayyaf rebels with her husband, Martin, and 18 other people from a Philippine resort on May 27, 2001. She was wounded but was rescued during an army operation on June 7, 2002. Her husband and a Filipino captive were killed in the crossfire during the rescue and a number of hostages, including another American, were beheaded during the captivity. "They were not true to their word," Mrs. Burnham told a prosecution lawyer. "One of the first things they told us on the speedboat was they were talking about their code of honor, how outstanding Muslim men they were." She quoted one of the Abu Sayyaf leaders, Abu Solaiman, as saying: "Could we ever touch your women? Of course not, the Koran forbids that." "They lied many times," she added, without giving details. Burnham was invited to testify under a mutual legal assistance treaty between Washington and Manila. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 "Could we ever touch your women? Of course not, the Koran forbids that." Must've poured throught the Koran and found another passage that gave them an out. It usually works out that way. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-11 10:21 |