Muslim rebels said today one of three American hostages they were holding in the southern Philippines was injured by an army grenade and demanded a military pullback as a condition for talks.
"He took many hits in the back...He is now in a stable condition, nothing to worry (about)," a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas said in a call to a local radio station, referring to American missionary Mr Martin Burnham.
Spokesman Abu Sabaya said Mr Burnham suffered shrapnel wounds caused by an explosion from a grenade fired by troops during one of several encounters over the past three days.
Military officials said they were checking the report.
Mr Burnham and his wife Gracia, both from Wichita, Kansas, were among 20 people kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf from an island resort on May 27th. They have been working with local cultural minorities since 1986 as missionaries for the US-based New Tribes Mission.
Also taken captive were Mr Guillermo Sobero, a tourist from Corona, California, and 17 Filipinos. The rebels brought the hostages to Basilan, a mountainous island 300 miles southeast of the Dos Palmas resort, but have since been engaged in almost unending clashes with troops.
Basilan is 900 km south of Manila.
Nine Filipino captives escaped in the fighting over the weekend, but the rebels took 11 more hostages from a hospital they occupied.