Manila - A lawyer claiming to represent a leader of the Philippine Abu Sayyaf rebel group, Commander Robot, said yesterday his client was ready to surrender and asked for an immediate halt to military operations against the guerrillas.
He said 12 Filipino evangelists, among 17 hostages held by the various Abu Sayyaf factions on southern Jolo island, had been allowed to go home by Andang but they had refused to leave because of the military assault on Jolo, which began on September 16th.
Meanwhile a family of seven Christians was killed by unidentified assailants in a remote mountain village in the southern Philippines, police said yesterday.