Jolo

The U.S. handed over its largest reward in the campaign to wipe out Al Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines, giving $10 million to Philippine informants in the killing of two top terrorism suspects. Four masked informants collected on promised $5-million rewards against Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafi Abubakar Janjalani, who was slain in a September clash on southern Jolo island, and against his presumed successor, Abu Solaiman, who was killed on Jolo in January. More than 7,000 U.S.

Two American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb believed to have been planted by Al Qaeda-linked militants, U.S. officials said. They were the first U.S. troops to die in an attack in the Philippines in seven years. A Philippine marine also was killed and two were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim southern region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to government troops battling Abu Sayyaf militants. The Philippine military suspects that the militant group was behind the attack.

A waterspout off Sulu Island sent torrents of water cascading onto houses south of the provincial capital of Jolo, killing at least two people, the military said Monday. Nearly 100 families lost their homes in the storm Sunday night in Jolo, about 600 miles south of Manila.

The U.S. handed over its largest reward in the campaign to wipe out Al Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines, giving $10 million to Philippine informants in the killing of two top terrorism suspects. Four masked informants collected on promised $5-million rewards against Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafi Abubakar Janjalani, who was slain in a September clash on southern Jolo island, and against his presumed successor, Abu Solaiman, who was killed on Jolo in January. More than 7,000 U.S.

Troops seized the main base of the Abu Sayyaf militant group on the Philippines' southern island of Jolo, but eight soldiers were killed when guerrillas ambushed a convoy returning from the area, the military said. At least five rebels were killed in fighting resulting from the ambush, Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner told reporters. Soldiers backed by airstrikes seized the base near Indanan town on Jolo, killing 19 rebels in a complex laced with bunkers and trenches, another military officer said.

Suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped eight door-to-door Avon cosmetics salespeople, Philippine officials said today. Esmon Suhuri, vice mayor of the town of Patikul on Jolo island, said the five women and three men, all Filipinos, were kidnapped Tuesday afternoon. He said the victims were both Christians and Muslims, and he blamed Abu Sayyaf. Jolo is known as an Abu Sayyaf stronghold. The abductions are the first believed to be linked to Abu Sayyaf since about 1,000 U.S.

Filipinos call Jolo the forgotten island. It is no more than a jungle-covered speck at the nation's southern tip. Even the mayor of the town of Jolo finds life so dull here that he lives in Zamboanga, three hours northeast by boat on another island. There hasn't been much of a foreign presence on Jolo since the Peace Corps pulled out in 1974, and so few tourists come that the occasional backpacker who shows up on the dawn ferry draws curious stares.

Muslim rebels released two Filipino journalists but did not say when they would free 29 other hostages, including 15 foreigners, held on a southern Philippine island. Val Cuenca and Maan Macapagal of ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest TV network, were handed over in the town of Patikul on Jolo island, where they were abducted Monday on their way back from interviewing the rebels, government officials said.

A man, along with a boy, possibly as young as 10, shot and killed a Roman Catholic bishop in a flare-up of violence against church officials in a southern region racked by Muslim secessionist violence. A church spokesman said Bishop Benjamin de Jesus died instantly when he was shot six times with .45-caliber pistols at point-blank range near his cathedral on Jolo island. Jolo, about 560 miles south of Manila, is one of the most volatile areas in the Mindanao region.

Fighting between government forces and Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines left 10 militants and three government troops dead, officials said. A Philippine marines platoon battled about 30 extremists under Abu Sayyaf veteran Radullan Sahiron in Jolo island's Patikul town.

Suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped eight door-to-door Avon cosmetics salespeople, Philippine officials said today. Esmon Suhuri, vice mayor of the town of Patikul on Jolo island, said the five women and three men, all Filipinos, were kidnapped Tuesday afternoon. He said the victims were both Christians and Muslims, and he blamed Abu Sayyaf. Jolo is known as an Abu Sayyaf stronghold. The abductions are the first believed to be linked to Abu Sayyaf since about 1,000 U.S.

Filipinos call Jolo the forgotten island. It is no more than a jungle-covered speck at the nation's southern tip. Even the mayor of the town of Jolo finds life so dull here that he lives in Zamboanga, three hours northeast by boat on another island. There hasn't been much of a foreign presence on Jolo since the Peace Corps pulled out in 1974, and so few tourists come that the occasional backpacker who shows up on the dawn ferry draws curious stares.

A waterspout off Sulu Island sent torrents of water cascading onto houses south of the provincial capital of Jolo, killing at least two people, the military said Monday. Nearly 100 families lost their homes in the storm Sunday night in Jolo, about 600 miles south of Manila.