(8 Mar 2002)
Zamboanga - March 8, 2002
1. Wide shot of news conference
2. Mid shot military officers at table
3. Cutaway journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier General Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman
"To justify their continued holding of these Americans and of course Deborah Yap, they were trying to justify the kidnapping, the abductions, the human rights violations, that they have done against these three hostages, by citing imagined injustices or oppression against their people which does not exist ."
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5. Various stills of Gracia and Martin Burnham
Zamboanga - March 8, 2002
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigadier General Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman
"So the message in those tapes confirms our earlier assessment that the Abu Sayyaf is linked to the al-Qaida movement. Their sentiments ... that they have aired are what the al-Qaida leaders have been saying after the September 11 attack against the World Trade Center in New York. These tapes are old, this is not new, so we believe they were made when the Burnhams were still stronger and more physically fit as shown by their features in those tapes."
7. Cutaway journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Major Cynthia Teramae, Public Information Officer, US Special Operations Pacific Command
"We stand firm in the belief that their return must be immediate, all three of them. They are innocent individuals, who are being held hostage against their will, and there's never any justification for that. So our prayers remain with the Burnhams and Deborah Yap, and we're hoping for the release every day and if there's any rejoicing that rejoicing will come with the release of those three individuals."
9. Wide shot of news conference
STORYLINE
Chances of rescuing two Americans held hostage by Muslim extremists will increase during a six-month counter-terrorism training mission involving US troops, the Philippine military spokesman said Friday.
Philippines Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said surveillance and communications equipment brought by US forces could increase the mobility of Filipino troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
The six-month exercise, aimed at wiping out the Abu Sayyaf, involves 660 US troops, including 160 from the Special Forces assigned to various Philippine combat units on Basilan island.
The guerillas are holding three hostages on Basilan: an American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham from Wichita, Kansas; and a Filipino nurse, Ediborah Yap.
On Thursday, Philippine television showed video footage obtained by a Western news agency of Martin Burnham reading a statement from the Abu Sayyaf.
The video reportedly was made in mid-January, but Adan said the Philippine military doubts it, believing it may have been taken sometime in October after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
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