(2 Oct 2000) English/Nat
XFA
A group of 12 Filipino Christian evangelists, held hostage for three months by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, was rescued on Monday after one escaped and told the military where the others were.
The Abu Sayyaf rebels are still holding five hostages - an American, three Malaysians and a Filipino.
Two helicopters transported the 11 evangelists to Zamboanga, after they were rescued by government troops in an assault against the Abu Sayyaf rebel group.
It marks the end of a three month ordeal at the hands of the rebels on the nearby island of Jolo.
All of them appeared cheerful as they disembarked from the helicopter and walked towards the waiting throng of officials and press people.
But the group's leader, Wilde Almeda, looked weak and bewildered.
The rescue came after one of their companions escaped early on Monday and told the military where the others were.
The escaped evangelist, Fernando Solon, was taken by the military in a helicopter and pointed out the location of the others.
Troops attacked and the rebels fled after a brief clash.
Solon escaped on Sunday night when he asked the rebels' permission to take a bath and found that his captors were not following him.
He spent the night hiding in a mangrove swamp before locating a group of soldiers in the morning.
Military operations commander Narciso Abaya said the rescue was all thanks to Solon's help.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So this morning at 0800 hours, one of the JMC (Jesus Miracle Crusade) members managed to get out of the group. This is Mr. Solon. Then after interviewing Mr. Solon he gave very valuable information on the location and the status of the other JMC members. So we press on the operation and now we got at 1600 hours, we were able to rescue the 11 other JMC members."
SUPER CAPTION: Narciso Abaya, Military operation commander
The 12 evangelists from the Jesus Miracle Crusade were abducted on July 1 when they visited an Abu Sayyaf camp to pray for other hostages.
Solon was the third hostage to escape from the rebels since thousands of troops attacked the guerrillas September 16 on southern Jolo island.
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