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Philippines Sentences 17 Muslim Kidnappers to Death
A Philippine court has sentenced 17 members of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group to death for kidnapping and murder. The defendants, including four who were tried in absentia, received three death sentences plus life imprisonment for murders and abductions on the southern island of Basilan three years ago. The group raided a hospital in the Basilan town of Lamitan on June 2, 2001, and kidnapped three female nurses and a male hospital clerk. Two of the nurses and the clerk later escaped. Another nurse was killed more than a year later during a military rescue operation. The group also kidnapped more than 50 students, teachers and a priest in 2000, and seized three Americans and 17 Philippine tourists a year later. Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-08-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=40508 |