StevenWarRan: November 14, 2001, The Manila Times, 'Secret marshals' deployed in Metro,

May 28, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, 2 Kansans Kidnapped, by Alex Branch,May 29, 2001, Wichita Eagle, Kidnappers are Muslim Extremists-Hostage From Rose Hill Allowed to Speak,
May 30, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Faith Put to the Test: Kidnapping Won't Stop Our Mission Work,
May 30, 2001, AP, Filipino Kidnappers Threaten to Kill Hostages, by Paul Alexander,
May 31, 2001, Wichita Eagle, Philippine Hostages Spotted--U.S. Offers to Help Search for Abductees,
June 1, 2001, Wichita Eagle, 2 Hostages Hit During Shootout-Rebel Leader Declines to Identify Which
June 2, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Rebels, Troops Clash, Some Hostages Escape
June 2, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, The Dangers of Mission Work, by Brian Lewis,
June 3, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Hostages Used as Human Shields
June 3, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Several Filipino Hostages Escape,
June 4, 2001, AP, Escape Prolongs Hostage Situation, by Jim Gomez,
June 5, 2001, AP, Kidnappers Use Jungle to Elude Troop's Pursuit, by Jim Gomez,
June 6, 2001, AP, Rebels: Rose Hill Hostage Wounded, by Jim Gomez,
June 7, 2001, AP, Rebels Demand Stop to Pursuit, by Jim Gomez,
June 8, 2001, AP, Kidnappers Threaten to Behead Hostages, by Jim Gomez,
June 9, 2001, AP, Guerrillas Split Up to Evade Pursuers, by Jim Gomez,
June 10, 2001, AP, Deadline Looms Over Hostages, by Jim Gomez,
June 10, 2001, AP, Troops Unable to Find Hostages, by Jim Gomez,
June 11, 2001, AP, Guerillas Seize Kids, Threaten Kansans, by Jim Gomez,
June 11, 2001, AP, No Headline, by Jim Gomez,
June 12, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, One American Slain, Philippine Rebel Says
June 13, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Philippine Mission Waiting for Burnhams, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez
June 13, 2001, AP, Two Filipinos Killed by Kidnappers, Authorities Believe, by Jim Gomez,
June 14, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Exec Arranges to Cover Burnhams' Phone Tab, by Lori Lessner,
June 14, 2001, AP, Philippines: No More Negotiations with Rebels, by Marcos Calo Medina,
June 15, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Philippines' Hostage Hunt Continues
June 16, 2001, AP, Rebels Plans to Give Up, Envoy Says, by Jim Gomez,
June 17, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Mission Life Pairs Success with Perils, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez,
June 17, 2001, AP, Freed Hostage: Burnhams Are Alive, by Jim Gomez,
June 19, 2001, AP, Rebels Agree to Talks if Troops' Assaults Stop
June 19, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Payoffs Made Filipino Rebels National Threat, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez
June 20, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, World in Brief, by Kathy Lefler,
June 21, 2001, Wichita Eagle, Help Goes Far at 'Burnham Hotel' Dozens in One Home Await Word,
June 22, 2001, AP, Philippine Troops Find 3 Severed Heads, by Jim Gomez,
June 25, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, World in Brief, by Kathy Lefler,
June 28, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Burnhams Never Expected a 30-Day Ordeal, by Alex Branch,
July 1, 2001, Orlando Sentinel, Burnhams Boost Hostages' Spirits, by Pedro Ruz Gutierrez
July 3, 2001, AP, Report: Hostages Seen Recently, by Oliver Teves,
July 7, 2001, The Wichita Eagle, Faith in Captivity, Burnhams Still Ministering
July 7, 2001, AP, Filipino Villagers Claim to Have Seen Hostages,

November 8, 2001, Reuters/Yahoo! Singapore News, Up to 350 believed dead in Philippine storm,
November 8, 2001, Sun Star/Yahoo! Singapore News, Manila: Camiguin in state of calamity,
November 8, 2001, INQ7.net, 86 dead, 245 missing as storm hits Philippines,
November 8, 2001, INQ7.net, Macapagal offers P2M aid for storm-battered Camiguin,
November 8, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Unseasonal storm batters Philippines, 110 dead, 291 missing,
November 8, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Philippines storm toll rises to 105 dead, 281 missing,
November 8, 2001, AP, Philippines Storm Death Toll at 108,
November 9, 2001, INQ7.net, 'Most of the missing may be dead': rescuers,
November 9, 2001, INQ7.net, Relief workers fear typhoon death toll could reach 400,
November 9, 2001, Gulf News, Typhoon toll may touch 350,
November 9, 2001, Gulf News, Blanca's husband, driver not suspects,
November 10, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Stench of death raises epidemic fears in storm-hit Philippines -
November 10, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Death toll from Philippines storm rises to 183,
November 11, 2001, AP, Attack Halts Philippine Phone Calls,
November 11, 2001, Reuters/Yahoo! Singapore News, Philippines' Arroyo visits typhoon-ravaged island,
November 11, 2001, abs-cbnNEWS.com, New 'Nida' witness recounts casino scene,
November 11, 2001, abs-cbnNEWS.com, Brains behind sale of ballots known to Comelec probers,
November 11, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Philippine leader unites religions in prayer for troubled nation,
November 12, 2001, Asia Pulse/Yahoo!, Arroyo Visits Indonesia in Atmosphere of \"Mutual Accommodation",
November 12, 2001, Asia Pulse/Yahoo!, Philippines, Indonesian Leaders Witness Signing of Accords,
November 12, 2001, abs-cbnNEWS.com, GMA off to Indonesia,
November 12, 2001, philstar.com, GMA to boost ties with Indonesia during visit,
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Macapagal off to Indonesia for 2-day state visit,
November 12, 2001, Asia Pulse/Yahoo! Singapore Finance, Philippines President Lays Out Goals for US Visit,
November 12, 2001, Asia Pulse/Yahoo! Singapore Finance, Philippines President Arroyo Arrives in Jakarta,
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Macapagal arrives in Indonesia,
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Full text Palace statement on Villanueva, public order
November 12, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia to boost naval patrols against arms smuggling
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Military chief will stay on: Malacañang, Armed Forces,
November 12, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Philippines says crime down despite rash of abductions,
November 12, 2001, Asia Pulse/Yahoo! Singapore Finance, New Int'l Airport Readied for Full Operation at Clark Field,
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Oversight committee formed to investigate justices' row,
November 12, 2001, philstar.com, PNP vows early capture of Blanca slay suspects
November 12, 2001, Tempo Interaktif, Indonesia - Philippines to Cooperate in Energy Sector,
November 12, 2001, INQ7.net, Lacson says laundering probe would clear him,
November 12, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Communist rebels disable Philippines telecommunications sites,
November 13, 2001, abs-cbnNEWS.com, R.P.'s role in U.S. war vs terror 'extremely valuable', November 13, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, Philippine leader extends planned US visit,
November 13, 2001, AFP/Yahoo! Singapore, US Pacific commander hails Philippine role in anti-terror campaign,
November 13, 2001, Tempo Interaktif, The Philippines to Support Indonesia at International Forum,
November 14, 2001, The Manila Times, 'Secret marshals' deployed in Metro,
November 14, 2001, INQ7, President seeks US help in kidnapping,
November 14, 2001, Asia Plus, Philippines President Leaves for the United States,
November 14, 2001, Reuters/Yahoo! Singapore News, Philippines kills five leftist rebels in clash,

______________________________________________________________________

PHILIPPINE REBEL LEADER ARRESTED -- OFFICIALS SAY THE ARREST OF ONE OF THE TOP ABU SAYYAF LEADERS IS THE MOST SERIOUS BLOW YET TO THE GROUP'S MORALE. JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - Tipped off by civilians, security officers in the southern Philippines have arrested one of the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, an extremist group holding about 20 captives, including two missionaries from Rose Hill, officials said today.

Nadzmie Sabtulah, also known as Commander Global, was described by military officials as the Abu Sayyaf's most respected commander. The group, whose leaders say they are fighting for an independent Muslim state in the...

Published on 2001-07-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WORLD IN BRIEF Compiled by Eagle news services
Two Abu Sayyaf rebels arrested

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested two suspected Muslim extremists in a raid on a hide-out near the southern island where the rebels hold about 20 hostages, officials said Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear if the two suspects arrested Tuesday were among the captors of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham from Rose Hill, thought to be held in the jungles of Basilan.

Police Col. Damming Unga said his men arrested the two - described as...

Published on 2001-07-11, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES CRACK DOWN ON REBEL SYMPATHIZERS OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a crackdown on sympathizers of the Abu Sayyaf rebels Friday and said the government was stepping up efforts to wipe out the extremist group.

"This is going to be a major, top-level, massive effort," Arroyo said, adding that it was aimed at "all of the hostage-takers and all of their conspirators and all of their accomplices."

The Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 20 people,...

Published on 2001-07-14, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled by Eagle staff and news services
Iraq missile nearly strikes U.S. plane

WASHINGTON - A surface-to-air missile came worrisomely close to an American U-2 surveillance plane high above southern Iraq on Tuesday, more evidence that Saddam Hussein's forces are increasingly adept at zeroing in on aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones, a senior Defense Department official said Wednesday night.

The U-2, probably the world's most famous spy plane, was at an altitude above 60,000 feet when it was fired...

Published on 2001-07-26, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

REBELS ABDUCT MORE HOSTAGES IN PHILIPPINES -- MUSLIM EXTREMISTS TAKE ANOTHER 16 FILIPINOS FROM A BASILAN ISLAND VILLAGE ON THURSDAY. DIRK BEVERIDGE, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - A band of Muslim extremist guerrillas raided a southern Philippine village and seized 16 Filipinos, including four children, a police chief said early today.

Abu Sayyaf militants swooped down Thursday night on the village of Balugo on the island of Basilan and took the people hostage, Basilan provincial Police Chief Ahmadulla Pangambayan said.

Authorities were investigating reports that a school and several houses were burned in the attack and that one of the...

Published on 2001-08-03, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MUSLIMS TAKE MORE HOSTAGES, KILL OTHERS -- MARTIN AND GRACIA BURNHAM, MISSIONARIES TO THE PHILIPPINES FROM ROSE HILL, ARE STILL HELD CAPTIVE BY THE ABU SAYYAF GROUP. DIRK BEVERIDGE, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Muslim extremists have seized 36 Filipinos and beheaded at least four, apparently to punish the military for its ongoing offensive, officials said Friday.

The Abu Sayyaf's attack Thursday night on a village on the southern island of Basilan, was the biggest since May 27, when the group attacked a southwes tern beach resort, seizing 20 hostages, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. The rebels claim to have beheaded a third...

Published on 2001-08-04, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MUSLIM REBELS BEHEAD 4 MORE -- THE LATEST VICTIMS ARE FOUR FILIPINOS, ALL TAKEN DURING A RECENT RAID. THERE IS STILL NO WORD ON HOSTAGES MARTIN AND GRACIA BURNHAM OF ROSE HILL. OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Muslim extremists have beheaded four more captives, bringing to eight the number killed since guerrillas raided a remote Philippi ne village two days ago, an official said Saturday.

Four decapitated bodies were recovered Saturday morning and Friday night as Philippine authorities pursued Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who abducted 36 people in a raid on Basilan island, said Inocente Ramos, mayor of Lamitan town.

Ramos, interviewed by Radio Mindanao Network, said the...

Published on 2001-08-05, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

13 HOSTAGES RESCUED BY PHILIPPINE TROOPS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine soldiers rescued 13 hostages early Sunday from a rebel group that has beheaded 10 other captives during a three-day spree of bloodshed and abduction, officials said.

Army spokesman Maj. Alberto Gepilano said the 13 were among a group of 36 people seized Thursday in a raid by the group Abu Sayyaf on a village on the southern island of Basilan. The Abu Sayyaf is also holding a separate group of 20 hostages, including Rose Hill, Kan., missionaries Martin...

Published on 2001-08-06, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES, REBELS SIGN CEASE-FIRE SEAN YOONG, Associated Press
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - The Philippine government and Muslim separatist rebels signed a cease-fire Tuesday, a major step toward ending decades of fighting in the southern Philippines.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, visiting Malaysia in her first overseas trip since taking office, met Murad Eibrahim, chief of staff of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, after the pact was signed.

The agreement leaves just one Muslim group still fighting for independence from the largely...

Published on 2001-08-08, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

THREE FILIPINO HOSTAGES RESCUED -- THE HOSTAGES WERE TAKEN BY THE ABU SAYYAF. THE GUERRILLA GROUP IS STILL HOLDING MARTIN AND GRACIA BURNHAM OF ROSE HILL. Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Soldiers have rescued three men seized in June by Muslim extremists on the southern island of Basilan, the Philippine military said Saturday.

The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas still hold about 18 other hostages, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, in the area 550 miles south of Manila.

The three men were rescued early Saturday in a village of Lantawan , said Col. Hermogenes Esperon, commander of Task Group Thunder. The rescue followed three...

Published on 2001-08-12, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLDSix killed, six wounded by Philippine extremists

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Suspected extremist guerrillas fired on a passenge r jeep in a troubled southern province Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding six others, the military said.

A 5-year-old child and a soldier were among the dead, Army Col. Hermogenes Esperon said.

The ambush did not disrupt a congressional hearing into allegations that the extremist Abu Sayyaf group bribed several military commanders...

Published on 2001-08-26, Page 12A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EX-HOSTAGE TELLS OF PHILIPPINES -- REGHIS ROMERO TELLS CONGRESS OF HIS ORDEAL WITH THE ABU SAYYAF. ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Reghis Romero, a Kansas couple and a Californian sat on boxes of rockets as the hostage-laden speedboat flew over rough seas, engines failing to cover screams of women and children.

The captives were burned by the tropical sun then savaged by mosquitoes as they stumbled blindly, many in slippers, through ink-black jungle.

They repeatedly ducked and cringed under incoming fire in the first week of their abduction, underfed and exhausted.

While...

Published on 2001-08-31, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ACCUSATIONS PIT MILITARY VS. CHURCH IN PHILIPPINES -- A PRIEST HAS ACCUSED THE MILITARY OF BEING IN COLLUSION WITH ABU SAYYAF REBELS. RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN, Washington Post
MANILA, Philippines - After spending months scouring dense tropical jungles to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping gang, the Philippine military finally got the group in its gun sights early one June morning when the bandits took over a church compound.

By lunchtime, officials announced that they had surrounded the compound, where 30 to 50 heavily armed guerrillas were holding about three dozen hostages, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, captured from a luxury...

Published on 2001-09-02, Page 13A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES RAIDS REBELS' HIDEAWAY Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Soldiers raided a hideout of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group, killing one person and capturing the brother of the group's leader, the military said Saturday. The rebels are holding about 20 Filipino and U.S. hostages, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Major Alberto Gepilano said his men arrested Mulhayser Tilao, the brother of Abu Sabaya, in a raid Friday on the southern island of Jolo. Sabaya's original name...

Published on 2001-09-09, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled from Eagle news services by Kathy Lefler
Philippine force snares 3 rebels

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Government troops in the Philippines have captured three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, including an officer in charge of the Muslim separatist group's communications, military officials said Sunday.

In addition to holding hostages, including two Rose Hill, Kan., missionaries, the Abu Sayyaf has links to exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, the military has said. Bin Laden, who is thought to be in Afghanistan, is a...

Published on 2001-09-17, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS' CAPTORS LINKED TO BIN LADEN ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
The images of airplanes crashing into tall buildings was heartbreaking enough to Paul and Oreta Burnham.

But the Rose Hill missionaries also have to wonder how the consequences of last week's tragedy will affect their kidnapped son and daughter-in-law somewhere in the Philippines jungle.

Martin and Gracia Burnham, also missionaries, were abducted May 28 from a Philippines resort by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf.

The Abu Sayyaf is believed to have direct...

Published on 2001-09-18, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSIONARIES' FAMILY UNAWARE OF NEGOTIATORS LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
Rose Hill missionaries Paul and Oreta Burnham say they are not involved in the appointment of a Filipino negotiator working for the release of their son and daughter-in-law.

The Associated Press said the Radio Mindanao Network reported Friday that family members of the hostages had appointed a negotiator "close to the family'' to work for the release of Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Paul Burnham said he doesn't know any family...

Published on 2001-09-22, Page 2B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ACTION TARGETS 27 WITH TERRORIST TIES -- A GLANCE AT SOME OF THE GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WHOSE U.S. ASSETS HAVE BEEN FROZEN. Knight Ridder Tribune
President Bush on Monday froze the U.S. assets of 27 organizations and individuals that he said have terrorist links. Among them was Osama bin Laden, branded by U.S. authorities as the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks against New York and Washington. Here are some of the others targeted by Bush:

-- Al-Jihad - This Egyptian Islamic extremist group has close ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Its goals include ousting the secular Egyptian government and replacing...

Published on 2001-09-25, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled from Eagle news services by Kathy Lefler
Remains thought to be Californian

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Three members of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf led the Philippine military Friday to a shallow grave containing remains they claimed were those of an American tourist kidnapped more than four months ago.

Forensic tests will be needed to confirm the identity of the remains. Officials said the army has reason to believe the remains are those of Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif.

The rebels have said they...

Published on 2001-10-06, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLDU.S. warns of peril in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The U.S. government has withdrawn officials and contractors from the southern Mindanao region of the Philippines and advised American citizens not to travel there because of increasing terrorist threats.

"Kidnappings of foreigners, bombings, and other violent incidents call for Americans to exercise great caution throughout the Philippines," a State Department travel advisory said...

Published on 2001-10-07, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS KILL AT LEAST 15 IN REBEL FORCE Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Government troops clashed with guerrillas in a southern province Sunday, killing at least 15 rebels and forcing many villager s to abandon their homes, officials said.

Officials said 14 soldiers and 10 villagers were wounded in the clash that started in Balatanay village on the outskirts of Isabela, the capital of Basilan province, and spread to a nearby town.

It was one of the fiercest battles against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas since the military launched a...

Published on 2001-10-08, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHOTO OF BURNHAMS RELEASED -- AN OFFICIAL SAYS U.S. TROOPS WON'T BE SENT AFTER THE GROUP THAT KIDNAPPED THE ROSE HILL MISSIONARIES. ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Paul and Oreta Burnham have tried to imagine the physical toll four months of marching through the Philippines jungle at gunpoint must be taking on their son Martin and his wife, Gracia.

They got hard evidence Wednesday when the Muslim extremist group holding them hostage released a photo of the Rose Hill missionaries, who were abducted in May from a Philippines resort.

"They look a little haggard; both have lost weight," Oreta said from her Rose Hill...

Published on 2001-10-11, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ESCAPEE: BURNHAMS TREATED WITH RESPECT Associated Press
ISABELA, Philippines - Two American missionaries held hostage by Muslim guerrillas are treated with respect, but have lost weight from lack of food during captivity, a teenager who escaped from the rebels said Thursday.

Coconut farmer Faizal Benasing said he has not seen a third American captive, Guillermo Sobero, who is thought to have been killed by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

Benasing, 17, was getting water from a river when his captors clashed with soldiers in the jungles of southern...

Published on 2001-10-12, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE REBELS KIDNAP 4, THEN KILL 2 FARMERS WHO FLEE ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - A Muslim extremist group with links to Osama bin Laden kidnapped four coconut farmers on a southern island Saturday and beheaded two of them when they tried to escape, police said.

The Abu Sayyaf group has held two Kansans, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, since late May and is accused of the grisly murder of a California tourist.

Bensali Jabarani, police chief of the island province of Basilan, said the Abu Sayyaf rebels invaded the...

Published on 2001-10-14, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

REBEL LETS ROSE HILL HOSTAGE SPEAK -- AFTER A NEW DEATH THREAT AGAINST HIM AND HIS WIFE, MARTIN BURNHAM TELLS A PHILIPPINE RADIO STATION HE IS "VERY TIRED, WEAK AND SCARED." Associated Press, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A Muslim extremist rebel leader threatened to behead Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham before the president's scheduled visit to the United States next month if the army does not halt its offensive on the group.

Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, warned early today that he would kill the Burnhams to coincide with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Nov. 20 visit with President Bush.

"It...

Published on 2001-10-15, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TROOPS TRAP REBEL UNIT Associated Press, Contributing: Alan Bjerga, Alex Branch and Hurst Laviana of The Eagle
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Government troops said today that they had trapped a unit of Muslim guerrillas in the southern Philippines and were urging them to surrender.

However, Col. Francisco Gudani said he didn't know if Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill were with the rebel unit that his troops had cornered on Basilan island.

The Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding about 10 Filipino hostages and the American missionaries.

"There is heavy fighting...

Published on 2001-10-16, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

IN ROSE HILL, BURNHAMS WAIT, PRAY ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Associated Press
After Teresa Burnham sang Saturday at a gospel concert at the Rose Hill Fall Festival, strangers who recognized her last name approached her.

We just want you to know that your family is in our prayers, they said warmly.

As the situation for her abducted brother-in-law, Martin, and his wife, Gracia, grows more tenuous by the day, the Burnham family is continuing to pray themselves, staying calm and clinging to hopes for a peaceful resolution.

After weeks of mostly...

Published on 2001-10-17, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RIEST KIDNAPPED IN THE PHILIPPINES Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Gunmen abducted an Italian priest after an evening Mass in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, police and the military said.

The Rev. Giuseppi Piarantoni, a missionary in his mid-40s, was seized in the town of Dimataling shortly before 7 p.m., police said, without providing more details. Police said they were in pursuit of the kidnappers.

The military said eight men kidnapped the priest from a church in the small town, which is in the province of Zamboanga...

Published on 2001-10-18, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GLOBAL -For the board, L. Kelly
Our thoughts continue to be with the family and friends of Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, the missionaries held hostage in the Philippines since May 27 by Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Living in the jungle with their captors, constantly on the run from government troops, has made them "tired, weak and scared," Mr. Burnham reported Monday in a Philippine radio interview. Rebel leader Abu Sabaya has repeatedly threatened to kill them if the guerrillas...

Published on 2001-10-18, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SEVERAL PHILIPPINE REBELS SURRENDER TO AUTHORITIES PAT ROQUE, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - At least six suspected Muslim rebels surrendered, and three more - including one who said he witnessed the slaying of a U.S. hostage - were captured, police and military said.

Police Superintendent Damming Unga said one suspected member of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group was captured in the southern city of Zamboanga and that two others were seized in a house on the nearby island of Basilan on Tuesday.

Bashir Balahim, a 16-year-old suspect captured along...

Published on 2001-10-25, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SHOCK WAVES OF BURNHAMS' PLIGHT FELT IN ARKANSAS ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
In the small Arkansas town of Cherokee Village, an elderly couple makes it through their days much like the parents of abducted Rose Hill missionary Martin Burnham.

They pray, and they try to stay near the phone. They pay close attention to international news and constantly fear for one of their children.

Their lives are similar because they're part of the same nightmare. Their daughter Gracia is Martin's wife, and both of them have been held captive by...

Published on 2001-10-26, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BOMBING AT PHILIPPINE PLAZA KILLS 6 Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A powerful bomb tore through a food court Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring 53 others while U.S. military officers were in town to discuss helping the government fight Muslim rebels.

Philippine authorities blamed the Muslim rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which kidnapped two Kansas missionaries and allegedly has links to Osama bin Laden, for the blast in the restive southern city of Zamboanga.

The American officers were unhurt in the early evening...

Published on 2001-10-29, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BATTLING ABU SAYYAF UNIFIES 2 COUNTRIES MARK LANDLER, New York Times
COTABATO, Philippines - When 23 U.S. military advisers recently arrived in the Philippines, they became symbols of America's expedition to yet another front in the war on terrorism.

In the Philippines, the enemy is a band of guerrillas known as Abu Sayyaf, whose avowed goal of carving out an Islamic state in this Roman Catholic country has given way to the less demanding, more lucrative, business of kidnapping Western tourists, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and...

Published on 2001-11-04, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWSBlaming victims

As a friend of Martin and Gracia Burnham, who are at present unable to defend themselves, I'm compelled to comment on the letter by Jennie Simons ("Wayward mission," Nov. 6 Reader Views).

Talk about blaming the victims! Martin and Gracia were kidnapped at gunpoint in the middle of the night while celebrating their anniversary, and Jennie Simons believes that they brought this on themselves?

Ms. Simons wonders if...

Published on 2001-11-08, Page 14A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWS Readers
Relief for workers

The Sept. 11 attacks aggravated the recession, drawing the entire economy into a recession of still uncertain depth and duration. As the economy continues to weaken, initial claims for unemployment insurance have risen at the rate of 505,000 per week over the past four weeks, a level not seen since the last recession in 1991.

On Oct. 24, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a $100 billion so-called economic "stimulus" package,...

Published on 2001-11-10, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WAR ON TERRORISM BRINGS BURNHAM SITUATION TO FORE LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Kansas lawmakers are working to help the Philippine government step up pressure on extremist Muslim rebels holding a Rose Hill missionary couple hostage. The nation's war on terrorism has pushed the plight of Martin and Gracia Burnham to the front burner, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback said Wednesda y. The Burnhams were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at a Philippi nes resort May 27 when they and 18 other people were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf...

Published on 2001-11-15, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HOSTAGES' FAMILY ASKS LAWMAKERS FOR SUPPORT ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Paul Burnham said he has faith he will see his son and daughter-in-law again, even though terrorists are threatening to kill them next week.

To help make that reunion a reality, Burnham and another relative began a marathon swing through Capitol Hill on Thursday to press lawmakers to help free Martin and Gracia Burnham, the Rose Hill missionaries who have been held hostage in the Philippines since May.

"We're trying every avenue we...

Published on 2001-11-16, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EDITORIALS IN BRIEF - For the board, Phillip Brownlee, L. Kelly and Randy
Scholfield
Need another miracle

The rescue of eight Christian aid workers who had been jailed for three months in Afghanistan is wonderful news - some would say it's nothing short of a miracle.

As Northern Alliance forces advanced on Kabul, the mission workers had been taken along as a human shield and bargaining chip by Taliban officials fleeing the capital, locked in a steel storage box overnight, then stashed in a fetid jail in Ghazni. After a local uprising, they were left...

Published on 2001-11-16, Page 14A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSIONARY HOSTAGES SEND LETTERS HOME BRIAN LEWIS, The Wichita Eagle
In letters carried out of the Philippines by released hostages, Paul and Oreta Burnham have received personal messages from their kidnapped son and daughter-in-law.

The letters indicate that missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham have continued to lose weight but are in reasonably good spirits. They have been held hostage by Muslin extremists since May 27.

The letters were only the second time in the past six months that Paul and Oreta Burnham had heard from their son and his...

Published on 2001-11-19, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TALK GIVES TIAHRT HOPE FOR BURNHAMS ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt said he's optimistic that Martin and Gracia Burnham might soon win release from their terrorist captors, despite a new wave of violence sweeping across the Philippines.

"There is a lot of pressure on Abu Sayyaf to release them or face the consequences," said Tiahrt, R-Goddard, after meeting Monday with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group fighting government...

Published on 2001-11-20, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BUSH: U.S. WILL HELP FIGHT MISSIONARIES' KIDNAPPERS IF ASKED Associated Press, Contributing: Lori O'Toole Buselt of The Eagle
WASHINGTON - President Bush assured Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday that the United States will help pursue a militant Muslim group holding two Rose Hill missionaries.

"The front against terror is not just in Afghanistan," Bush told reporters as he greeted Arroyo in the Oval Office.

He suggested that members of al-Qaida, the terrorist network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, were operating in the Philippines, saying the United...

Published on 2001-11-21, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEF Compiled by Eagle staff reports
Tiahrt's aide: Philippine leader phoned Rose Hill

Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill received an awaited phone call from the Philippine president, an aide to Rep. Todd Tiahrt said Wednesday night.

The Burnhams are parents of Martin Burnham, who was taken hostage with his wife, Gracia, by the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group fighting governme nt troops in the southern Philippines.

Tiahrt met Monday with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Washington,...

Published on 2001-11-22, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEF Compiled by Eagle staff reports
Philippine leader offers sympathy to Burnham family

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill late Wednesday night to express her sympathy and tell them of her military's efforts to free their son and daughter-in-law.

The Burnhams' son, Martin, and his wife, Gracia, are missionaries in the Philippines who were kidnapped nearly six months ago by Muslim extremists.

Arroyo had finished a visit to...

Published on 2001-11-23, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS APPEAR IN PHILIPPINE TV PIECE ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Associated Press
Wearing handcuffs and looking frightened and exhausted, Rose Hill missiona ries Martin and Gracia Burnham appeared on a videotape Monday that was shot by a Filipino news crew in the jungle where they are being held captive.

"It takes me days to recover every time I hear even a twig snap," said Gracia Burnham, wearing a Muslim-style head covering as she tried to suppress her sobs during the brief interview, which aired on a Philippine cable channel....

Published on 2001-11-27, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RESULTS -For the board, Rhonda Holman
In an interview with a cable news crew aired this week in the Philippines, Martin Burnham reportedly acknowledged that the Philippine government may be doing everything it can to rescue him and his wife, Gracia, but that "it's not working."

It may sound like a statement of the obvious. But in this case, the truth resonates more loudly because of its source in the video - the handcuffed, exhausted and ill-looking Rose Hill missionary, speaking with...

Published on 2001-11-28, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS OPPOSE RANSOM TO GUERRILLAS ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Despite a public offer from the leader of a Philippine guerrilla group to release their son and daughter-in-law in exchange for a ransom, Paul and Oreta Burnham say they still oppose paying one.

"We don't support it because it just makes it all the more dangerous for everyone else there, not just missionaries," Oreta Burnham said. "It leads to more kidnappings."

The leader of the Abu Sayyaf group holding hostage...

Published on 2001-11-28, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS TAKE THEIR PLIGHT TO THE AIRWAVES ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
The parents of kidnapped Rose Hill missionary Martin Burnham are taking their story to the national media, hoping the publicity will encourage lawmakers to push harder for a peaceful resolution.

Paul and Oreta Burnham are expected to appear Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "The Morning Show," said Scott Ross, a spokesman for Florida-based New Tribes Mission.

The mission also arranged...

Published on 2001-11-29, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS' KIDS HAPPY, AND SAD, TO SEE VIDEOTAPE ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Twelve-year-old Mindy Burnham isn't sure how she'll describe her parents - missionaries held hostage in the Philippines for the past six months - when she goes on national television today.

But the message, she says, will be this: She desperately misses them, and she wants help getting them home.

She and her grandparents, Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill, will aim that plea toward U.S. lawmakers today on CBS's "The Early...

Published on 2001-11-30, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS ENTER THE SPOTLIGHT TIM POTTER, The Wichita Eagle
Around 5:30 a.m. Friday, the coffeemaker gurgled in the kitchen. It sounded like any morning at the Rose Hill home of Paul and Oreta Burnham.

But it became a morning like no other.

By 6:15, Oreta, her granddaughter and her daughter-in-law's sister sat in carefully placed chairs in Oreta's living room. A stranger hooked them up to fancy microphones.

By 6:30, they took questions on national television from CBS anchor Bryant Gumbel from the studio...

Published on 2001-12-01, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

THE BURNHAMS' AMAZING FAITH KEEPS THEIR FAMILY OPTIMISTICFor six long months, Paul and Oreta Burnham have held steady during every parent's darkest storm.

On May 27, their oldest son, Martin, and his wife, Gracia, both 42, were kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the Philippines. The couple had lived there as missionaries since 1985.

The kidnappers herded the hostages deep into the jungle to elude government troops in pursuit.

You've probably heard about Martin and Gracia's living...

Published on 2001-12-01, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFBurnham family's TV interviews stir hope and support

Paul Burnham, the father of kidnapped Rose Hill missionary Martin Burnham, said his family's appearances on national television have brought increased national attention and hope.

The family has received dozens of calls from concerned viewers wanting to express support or a desire to help, many from congressmen.

"We're very happy with what's...

Published on 2001-12-02, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFChurch's members keep hostages in their prayers

ROSE HILL - Members of the Rose Hill Bible Church continued to pray Sunday for kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. Martin's parents and the couple's three children attend the church.

Paul Burnham, Martin's father, said he has little new information about the couple, who have been hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, a guerrilla group in the Philippines, for the past six...

Published on 2001-12-03, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WAR AGAINST AL-QAIDA HITS 7 NEW COUNTRIES JOSH MEYER, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has begun dispatching diplomatic, military, intelligence and law enforcement agents to Asia and Africa to lay the groundwork for the next front in its war against terrorism, taking aim at al-Qaida hubs in at least seven countries, officials said Saturday.

This far broader campaign against Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was initiated in recent weeks with a flurry of discreet but high-level overtures from U.S. officials, including...

Published on 2001-12-03, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MILITARY SAYS BURNHAMS' RESCUE WOULD BE TOUGH JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Any rescue of American hostages being held by Muslim extremists guerillas would be risky since at least one of them spends much of his time chained to his guard, a military official said Monday.

Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham have been held by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on the southern Philippine island of Basilan for six months. The couple talked of illness, fear of gunfire and death in a recently televise d interview.

Brig. Gen. Edilberto...

Published on 2001-12-04, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. FORCES' MISSION TO PHILIPPINES NOT KNOWN Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - At least 16 U.S. soldiers landed in the southern Philippines on Friday as Filipino troops battled Muslim extremists who are holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham some 12 miles away.

It was unclear why the American troops had been dispatched amid an ongoing clash with Abu Sayyaf rebels that had left at least three guerrillas dead and one captured since it began around dawn.

Karen Kelley, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, said that she was...

Published on 2001-12-08, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE FORCES GET HELP FROM U.S. AARON FAVILA, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - U.S. soldiers may expand the training of Philippi ne special forces fighting the guerrillas who are holding Rose Hill missiona ries Martin and Gracia Burnham and a Filipino nurse hostage in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Saturday.

Nineteen U.S. soldiers landed at the military air base in Zamboanga on Friday morning wearing camouflage fatigues and backpacks. The Americans had no visible firearms or insignia.

"They are...

Published on 2001-12-09, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

NEWS OF BURNHAM PETITION SPREADS LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
Some Wichita church leaders will join others across the world today in asking congregation members to sign a petition to President Bush, urging him to bring home Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill.

The couple have been hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, a guerrilla group in the Philippines, since May.

"It's just to raise awareness and ask people not to be so busy to forget there are people who are Americans, parents, Christians who are...

Published on 2001-12-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HUNDREDS PLEAD BURNHAMS' CASE DAN VOORHIS, The Wichita Eagle
Hundreds of Wichita-area churchgoers signed petitions Sunday urging President Bush to continue "aggressive efforts" to release kidnapped missiona ries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

The petitions were signed as people filed in and out of morning services at eight Wichita area churches.

The Burnhams' grueling seven-month captivity in a Philippine jungle tugged at the hearts of many signing petitions.

It's time for them to...

Published on 2001-12-10, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BURNHAMS Eagle staff
Here are some answers to questions frequently asked by readers about Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries who have been held hostage in the Philippines since May 27 by the Muslim rebel group Abu Sayyaf.

In a recently released videotape, the Rose Hill missionaries displayed a jar of peanut butter sent by friends. How are people able to send peanut butter and letters to Martin and Gracia Burnham in the Philippines? Is there a way readers can send supplies or letters to them?

...

Published on 2001-12-12, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FAMILY HOPES END OF RAMADAN NETS BURNHAMS' RETURN LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Associated Press
Relatives of Martin and Gracia Burnham hope the kidnapped missionaries will be released Sunday - and they think this deadline will be different from previous ones that ended in disappointment.
They're so confident that Christmas presents for Martin and Gracia are wrapped and waiting under the family's tree in Rose Hill.
Sunday marks Eid al-Fitr, one of the most important Islamic celebrations. It comes at the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer...

Published on 2001-12-15, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MEDIA KEEP SPOTLIGHT ON BURNHAMS' PLIGHT"The media shouldn't constantly run stories about kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. It only brings heartache to their poor family, and adds stress to everyone else. Let's just pray the rebels release the Burnhams and stop dwelling on things."
- Opinion Line call, Dec. 6
I share this caller's concern for the family of Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, who are being held captive by...

Published on 2001-12-16, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RESCUE PLANS SET FOR BURNHAMS Eagle staff and news services
KAPATANGAN GRANDE, Philippines - Philippine soldiers said they would go in shooting when the moment arrived to rescue two American missionaries and a Filipino nurse held hostage in dense jungle here for almost seven months.
"This is the endgame," said Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, a top general in charge of the operation to rescue the hostages. The rescue attempt was expected to occur at any time - perhaps as early as today.
The three hostages - Rose Hill...

Published on 2001-12-16, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM FAMILY AWAITS RESCUE NEWS MOLLY McMILLIN, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: New York Times
Sunday, as a top Philippine military official said an effort to rescue Martin and Gracia Burnham could come anytime, Martin's parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham, turned to their faith and waited for news.
As of late Sunday, there was no word of any rescue attempt.
Missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham have been held hostage in a dense jungle in the Philippines for nearly seven months.
Oreta Burnham said she did not sleep Saturday night and kept expecting the...

Published on 2001-12-17, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PRAYERS PLANNED FOR KIDNAPPED MISSIONARIES ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
As the parents of a kidnapped missionary continued to wait for word of rescue Monday, their mission designated Wednesday as a prayer day for the safe return of Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Missionaries at Florida-based New Tribes Mission will gather that morning for a special prayer for the Rose Hill couple, who have been held hostage by rebels in the Philippines for six months.
"Churches may desire to devote part of their Wednesday evening prayer services to the...

Published on 2001-12-18, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

LOCAL MUSLIM OFFERS TO HELP FREE BURNHAMS LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
Nabil Seyam can relate to what Martin and Gracia Burnham must be dealing with as hostages: dramatic weight loss, filth, sickness, lice and worrying about family members.
Eleven years after he was taken hostage in Kuwait, Seyam said he's willing to go to the Philippines as a mediator to help free the kidnapped couple - even if it means risking becoming a hostage again.
"The Burnhams are innocent people," said Seyam, president of the board of...

Published on 2001-12-19, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

VISITORS FILL ROSE HILL CHURCH FOR BURNHAM PRAYER SERVICE LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
Ramzieh Azmeh sat next to Loleta Burnham on Wednesday night on a pew at the Rose Hill Bible Church.
Azmeh, a Muslim from Wichita, had never attended the church. Burnham has been a member for 46 years.
During an hourlong prayer service, they bowed their heads, closed their eyes and prayed together that God would bring Loleta Burnham's nephew, Martin, and his wife, Gracia, home from the Philippines, where they've been held hostage since May.
Doug...

Published on 2001-12-20, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

DIFFICULT CONDITIONS HAMPERING RESCUE MICHAEL DORGAN, Knight Ridder Newspapers
BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines - Standing at the edge of a mountain jungle just a few miles from where Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill are being held hostage by a bandit gang, Col. Orlando DeLeon on Wednesday vented his frustration.
"If we go into the mountains with 100 men single file, you can't see the man ahead of you or the man behind," DeLeon said. "And most of the time they evade us (rather than fight). That makes everything...

Published on 2001-12-20, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FAMILY HOPES ITS SECOND TRIP TO D.C. WILL BRING ACTION ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Oreta Burnham and Heather Mercer sat together on Rep. Todd Tiahrt's couch Wednesday afternoon, looking at photos of Oreta's son and daughter-in-law, Martin and Gracia Burnham.
"She was talking when they took that photo," Oreta told Heather, "That's why she looks so emotional."
"So, she always has to wear a headscarf?" Heather asked. "I...

Published on 2001-12-20, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

No Headline OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The U.S. Army on Thursday gave hundreds of weapons, including sniper rifles, mortars and grenade launchers, to the Philippine military for use against a Muslim extremist group linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
The arms are part of a military assistance package promised by President Bush when Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited Washington in October.
"Our troops need this very badly," said Philippine army...

Published on 2001-12-21, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES RECEIVES U.S. ARMS SHIPMENT OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The U.S. Army on Thursday gave hundreds of weapons, including sniper rifles, mortars and grenade launchers, to the Philippine military for use against a Muslim extremist group linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
The arms are part of a military assistance package promised by President Bush when Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited Washington in October.
"Our troops need this very badly," said Philippine army...

Published on 2001-12-21, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

No Headline CASSIO FURTADO, Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Paul and Oreta Burnham wrapped up their second visit to the nation's capital Thursday with a series of meetings that made them "feel confident" that their son and his wife, Martin and Gracia Burnham, would be released from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines.
The Rose Hill couple, in Washington since Wednesday, met Thursday at the White House with Robert Marsh, an aide to President Bush. There they delivered...

Published on 2001-12-21, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS WRAP UP THEIR TRIP TO CAPITAL CASSIO FURTADO, Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Paul and Oreta Burnham wrapped up their second visit to the nation's capital Thursday with a series of meetings that made them "feel confident" that their son and his wife, Martin and Gracia Burnham, would be released from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines.
The Rose Hill couple, in Washington since Wednesday, met Thursday at the White House with Robert Marsh, an aide to President Bush. There they delivered...

Published on 2001-12-21, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

No Headline Eagle Staff
The children of two kidnapped Kansas missionaries are thriving in school, despite their personal adversities, their grandfather told a citywide prayer service Sunday.
Jeffrey Burnham, 14, scored so well that he didn't have to take finals for his first freshman semester in high school. Mindy, 12, holds a 4.0 grade average, "and Zach (11) is doing well, too," Paul Burnham said.
That was a bit of comforting news to about 150 people who...

Published on 2001-12-24, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HOSTAGES' CHILDREN FLOURISHING IN SCHOOL Eagle Staff
The children of two kidnapped Kansas missionaries are thriving in school, despite their personal adversities, their grandfather told a citywide prayer service Sunday.
Jeffrey Burnham, 14, scored so well that he didn't have to take finals for his first freshman semester in high school. Mindy, 12, holds a 4.0 grade average, "and Zach (11) is doing well, too," Paul Burnham said.
That was a bit of comforting news to about 150 people who...

Published on 2001-12-24, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT PREPARES FOR PHILIPPINES ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt said Philippine leaders need to understand that the United States wants Martin and Gracia Burnham freed now, not later.
That's the message he hopes to get across to military and government officials during his trip to the Philippines, which starts Saturday.
Tiahrt, Jeff Kahrs, his chief of staff, and other U.S. government and military officials will head to Manila this weekend to meet with Philippine leaders and discuss efforts to...

Published on 2001-12-27, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSION ASKS PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR BURNHAMS LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
As New Year's approaches, the New Tribes Mission is asking people to remember with prayers its kidnapped missionaries, Martin and Gracia Burnham.
"I think there was quite a lot of activity and anticipation that the Burnhams would be released before Christmas," said Scott Ross, spokesman for Florida-based New Tribes Mission.
However, Christmas presents for Martin and Gracia Burnham still wait for them under the family's tree in...

Published on 2001-12-29, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFTiahrt leaves for Philippines, calls for use of troops
As he left Wichita for the Philippines on Saturday morning, Rep. Todd Tiahrt called for military intervention to free Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill.
Tiahrt said that the emaciated appearance of the captives on videotape shows the dire straits they are already in. No matter what the consequences of a military intervention, "I think it's time," Tiahrt said.
...

Published on 2001-12-30, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

KIDNAPPED MISSIONARY'S FATHER TELLS CONGREGATION TO BE HOPEFUL JOSH FUNK, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Associated Press
The Rose Hill Bible Church guest book includes a steady stream of reporter s, both local and national, who have visited the church in the past six months.
Journalists have been there looking for news of Martin and Gracia Burnham or to visit with the family of the kidnapped missionaries.
Sunday, Paul Burnham told the 50 people in the sanctuary that he remains hopeful his son, Martin, and daughter-in-law, Gracia, will be safely home soon.
"We do believe there...

Published on 2001-12-31, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT: U.S. HELP WOULD BE ACCEPTED ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt said Monday that the Philippine military would accept help from the U.S. military to free two Wichita-area missionaries.
Tiahrt hopes also to gain Philippine government support for U.S. troops when he meets with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today.
Tiahrt, R-Goddard, is in the Philippines for three days to learn more about what that nation is doing to rescue Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill.
After his first day, Tiahrt...

Published on 2002-01-01, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT IS HEARTENED BY PHILIPPINE TALKS ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Martin and Gracia Burnham are emaciated but moving under their own power, a Philippine military leader told Rep. Todd Tiahrt on Tuesday.
Tiahrt, R-Goddard, said the news from Gen. Roy Cimatu, who is leading efforts to free the Rose Hill couple, is one of several encouraging signs he received in the second of his three days in the Philippines.
A dinner with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo also yielded support for an increased U.S. military role in the island...

Published on 2002-01-02, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES WON'T LET U.S. TROOPS AID RESCUE ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - U.S. ground troops will not be invited to aid in a rescue of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Earlier in the week, Rep. Todd Tiahrt said the Philippine military seemed open to increased cooperation with the United States - including, perhaps, the use of U.S. ground troops in any rescue attempt.
But Philippine military and political leaders said Wednesday that although they welcome U.S. technological and logistical support, they draw the line at combat...

Published on 2002-01-03, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWS Readers
Snake handling
When Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, leaves his position in Congress, we should hope he does not find employment in the State Department. His skills in diplomacy are nowhere near as sharp as his self-promotion talent.
Were he to take an intelligent approach to influencing the Philippine government's policy toward the Burnhams' kidnappers, he would refrain from statements to the media describing his trip as one to get that government to be...

Published on 2002-01-03, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT PLANS TO TAKE BURNHAM CASE TO RUMSFELD ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt returns to Washington today saying he opened some doors to greater Filipino-American cooperation to free Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Next, he said, he plans to call Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to see what steps the United States will take to aid the Philippine military.
"We've been at a standstill," said Tiahrt, who was in Honolulu Thursday to meet with Adm. Dennis Blair, commander of the U.S. Pacific...

Published on 2002-01-04, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PRAYER, FASTING TO MARK GRACIA BURNHAM'S BIRTHDAY ARTURO GARCIA, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham isn't the kind of person to forget a friend's birthday. So her friends are working to make sure people don't forget hers.
"We always did something big for her birthday," said Kathy Ryff, one of the organizers of a prayer and fast campaign for Burnham and her husband, Martin, who have been captives of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines since May.
The campaign will run from Monday...

Published on 2002-01-06, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S.-PHILIPPINE HISTORY HINDERS TROOPS ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - As Martin and Gracia Burnham enter their eighth month in captivity in the southern Philippines, one question has come to dominate the thinking of many people waiting for their release.
Why doesn't the United States send its own combat troops to help free the Rose Hill couple?
The Philippine government has repeatedly said that while it welcomes U.S. military aid, the actual fighting will be done by its armed forces.
The reason, experts on...

Published on 2002-01-08, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RETURNING TO THE PHILIPPINES ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - They had imagined the greatest of family reunions - all the kids together welcoming back Martin and Gracia Burnham from their grueling stint as hostages in the Philippine jungle.
But after seven months and no release, Martin's four siblings who gathered in Rose Hill to await his return say it's time to get back to their lives.
For Martin's sister Cheryl Spicer and her husband, Walter, also missiona ries in the Philippines, that...

Published on 2002-01-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS TO ALLOW U.S. ON FRONT LINE ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - U.S. military advisers will be allowed to join front-line Philippine troops fighting Muslim guerrillas linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
More than 100 U.S. soldiers are expected to arrive to assist troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf extremist group, which is holding Rose Hill missiona ries Martin and Gracia Burnham.
But these advisers will not engage the guerrillas in combat, the Philippines' military chief of staff said Wednesday.
U.S....
Published on 2002-01-10, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OPINION LINE callers
The Philippine government has been fighting militant fundamentalists for years. Maybe Rep. Todd Tiahrt should stick to issues he knows, such as school prayer, flag-burning bans and gun advocacy ("Tiahrt plans to take Burnham case to Rumsfeld," Jan. 4 Eagle).

While it's sad that the Burnhams are being held captive in the Philippines, they went there of their own will. I don't understand why Tiahrt traveled there on their...
Published on 2002-01-12, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FORMER HOSTAGES PORTRAY EXPERIENCES, BURNHAMS SETH MYDANS, New York Times
TABIAWAN, Philippines -"Emergency!" the men shouted as they jumped from a jeep outside the little clinic. A young nurse named Reina Malonzo hurried out to help, but they pushed by her in the rain and darkness and began smashing windows with their rifle butts.
Their hostages, filthy and wet, stumbled into the building and began taking showers and looking for fresh clothes.
It was a moment, Malonzo said later, that ruined the life she had known. Sitting...
Published on 2002-01-13, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. TROOPS TRAIN FILIPINO SOLDIERS Associated Press, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - About 650 U.S. soldiers will join Filipino troops in a training program that will allow U.S. troops to observe the Philippines' war against Muslim extremists linked to Osama bin Laden, the Philippines' defense secretary said Monday.
The six-month series of exercises will start this month and could be extended to the end of the year.
Training will be in the southern port city of Zamboanga and nearby Basilan Island, where thousands...
Published on 2002-01-15, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES NEXT OUTPOST IN U.S. WAR ON TERRORISM PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - More than 200 American troops are in the Philippines for a joint military exercise as the Pentagon moves to expand the war against terrorism.
"What's taking place in the Philippines is that this is a global problem, that we are addressing it globally, not just in Afghanistan," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday.
Rumsfeld said 240 to 250 Americans were already on the ground in the Asian nation, where local...
Published on 2002-01-17, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RESCUE COMPLICATES PHILIPPINE OPERATION ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has two goals as it sends troops to the Philippines: eradicating the Abu Sayyaf terror group, and freeing Martin and Gracia Burnham.
The first objective is drawing more national attention as part of the next phase of the global war on terrorism. But the second objective will affect how the first is done and may be tougher to pull off.
By the end of February about 660 U.S. troops, including 160 U.S. Army Special Forces, will be training and...
Published on 2002-01-18, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS PROTEST U.S. PRESENCE JAMES BROOKE, New York Times, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - A political firestorm has erupted in the Philippines about the impending arrival of some 650 U.S. soldiers who are to be dispatched to help battle an Islamic insurgency. A few senators here are even demanding the impeachment of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo just a year after she took office.
In an attempt to calm the furor in a nation that voted 11 years ago to end a century of nearly unbroken U.S. military presence, Filipino and U.S. officials stressed again...

Published on 2002-01-19, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

IF A LAW FORBIDS IT, SHOULD MISSIONARIES SHARE FAITH? AMY GREEN, Associated Press, Contributing: Brian Lewis of The Eagle
As a Roman Catholic missionary in the Islamic nation of Mauritania, Sister Claire Rheaume discussed her faith only with close friends and never made the sign of the cross before meals at restaurants.
The government of the north African nation allowed missionaries to discuss their beliefs, but the nun felt it was important to be discreet.
"It wasn't denying your faith. It's the respect that you have for the country," said...

Published on 2002-01-19, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEF'48 Hours' to air taped interview with Burnhams
An interview with kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham will air Monday evening on CBS's "48 Hours."
The interview footage, obtained from Net-25, a Philippine television station, details the Burnhams' daily struggle with hunger and medical needs and elaborates on the terror they face in the line of fire, the network says.
It also...

Published on 2002-01-20, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES BRACES FOR U.S. TROOPS JAMES BROOKE, New York Times
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines
At a rural Philippine army base here, beyond a grove of tamarind trees shading a turkey pen and a cow pasture, construction teams are working around the clock, preparing for a new step by the United States in the global war on terrorism.
Racing a Friday deadline, workers are bolting together prefabricated steel dormitories, classrooms and a mess hall to house 160 of the U.S. troops who are to come here. They are to train and advise Filipino soldiers in...

Published on 2002-01-20, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MORE U.S. TROOPS ARRIVE AMID FILIPINO PROTESTS PAT ROQUE, Associated Press, Contributing: Knight Ridder Newspapers
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - U.S. military cargo planes brought more troops and equipment to the southern Philippines on Sunday amid growing protests against American involvement in the government's efforts to quash Muslim guerrillas who are holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage.
Three U.S. Air Force C-130s arrived at an air base in the southern port city of Zamboanga carrying several soldiers, a forklift, a power generator, engineering equipment, and...

Published on 2002-01-21, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFBurnhams' story to air tonight on CBS's '48 Hours'
An interview with kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham obtained from a Philippine television station will air tonight on CBS's "48 Hours."
The program will air at 9 on KWCH, Channel 12.
The interview details the Burnhams' daily struggle with hunger and medical needs and elaborates on the terror they face in...

Published on 2002-01-21, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE AREA Compiled by Eagle staff reports
Burnhams see no surprises in TV special
Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill said there was nothing unexpected in a "48 Hours" special Monday on the kidnapping of their son, Martin, and his wife, Gracia.
Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped last May by the Abu Sayyaf, a militant Muslim group operating in the jungles of the Philippines.
Martin and Gracia's children, Mindy, Jeff and Zach, stayed up past their bedtime to watch the...

Published on 2002-01-22, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BASILAN FEARFUL OVER PRESENCE OF U.S. TROOPS INDIRA A.R. LAKSHMANAN, Boston Globe
BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines - This tropical farming island does not feel like a war zone, and its residents said Monday they do not understand why the world's leading military power would make this obscure outpost the next stop in the war on terrorism.
But underneath the placid facade of swaying palm fronds vying for space with shacks perched on stilts in mangrove swamps is a community that has been terrorized for the past decade by a small but vicious band of homegrown...

Published on 2002-01-22, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT FOCUSES ON BURNHAMS AT D.C. ABORTION-PROTEST RALLY ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt had a special message for abortion opponents at this year's March for Life on Tuesday in Washington: Pray for Martin and Gracia Burnham.
"Please remember to keep Martin and Gracia Burnham in your prayers," said Tiahrt, R-Goddard, at the annual rally to remember - and protest - the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. "Keep them in your prayers, that they are brought...

Published on 2002-01-23, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

'48 HOURS' INTENSIFIES INTEREST IN BURNHAMS ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Relatives had hoped the first prime-time special on Martin and Gracia Burnham would provide a giant boost to public interest in the kidnapped missionaries
It did.
Phone calls from strangers across the country who saw CBS's "48 Hours" Monday poured into the home of Martin's parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham, on Tuesday.
Martin's brothers and sisters received similar calls and e-mails, Oreta Burnham said. Also,...

Published on 2002-01-23, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS - For the board, Rhonda Holman
Anyone who hears the story of Martin and Gracia Burnham - as south-central Kansans have again and again since the couple's kidnapping last May at a Philippine resort - can't help but be touched and troubled by it. Now, news of the missionaries' captivity is finally getting its due in the American media, including a Monday segment on CBS' "48 Hours" and a mention Sunday on NBC's "Meet the...

Published on 2002-01-23, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. WILL IMPROVE PHILIPPINE ARMY'S MOBILITY, COMMUNICATIONS MICHAEL ZIELENZIGER, Knight Ridder Newspapers
BASILAN, Philippines - Two weeks ago, the head of a mountain village on this craggy jungle island stumbled into the governor's office with a startling tip: He had just seen Martin and Gracia Burnham, the Rose Hill missionary couple taken captive by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
"He said the woman was sick and Martin was so thin," said Chris Puno, aide to provincial governor Wahab Akbar, who met with Nasser Salahayan. "He said Gracia was...

Published on 2002-01-24, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS EMBRACE U.S. HELP MICHAEL ZIELENZIGER, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Contributing: Associated Press
BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines - When U.S. special forces soldiers arrive on this small tropical island next month to conduct anti-terrorism training with Filipino soldiers, they will confront a tangled terrain of snake-infested forests, fractious clan-based guerrilla warfare and a local peasantry deeply distrustful of the Philippine military.
But most residents, it appears, will be friendly. They are optimistic that U.S. forces can repeat their success in Afghanistan, in which a small...

Published on 2002-01-24, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BROWNBACK TO ARROYO: MEDIA MISTOOK REMARK ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Sen. Sam Brownback said Wednesday that U.S.-Philippine relations are moving beyond a comment he made last week that he said was distorted by Philippine media.
Brownback has been at the center of a controversy since telling reporters in Wichita last week that "it appears the Philippines is going to be the second, the next target, after Afghanistan on the war on terrorism."
The comment, interpreted in the Philippine press as Brownback calling...

Published on 2002-01-24, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FAITH IS CENTRAL TO THE BURNHAMS' STORY Reader
My family watched CBS' "48 Hours" tell the story of Gracia and Martin Burnham, my brother-in-law, Jan. 21. We appreciated CBS giving their kidnapping attention and that they got the facts straight. But I was disappointed that they included so little about our faith. I had told them, "You cannot tell this story without telling about our faith, because that is what gets us through every day." But I guess the best they could do was...

Published on 2002-01-24, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWS Readers
Burnham outrage
As I watched "48 Hours" Jan. 21 about the plight of Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held for eight months by Philippine thugs, my heart was broken. At the same time, my anger increased for the recent pontifications of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International and others on behalf of the Taliban murderers held at Guantanamo Bay.
While the Burnhams plead for help, the bleeding-heart whiners decry the so-called...

Published on 2002-01-25, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

23 ARMED SOLDIERS ARRIVE TO HELP PHILIPPINE ARMY ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The first U.S. soldiers to arrive with assault rifles strapped to their backs flew into the southern Philippines on Thursday to help prepare for a joint military exercise aimed at fighting an extremist group.
The 13 troops arrived on a massive U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane, toting unloaded M-16s.
They are "logistics soldiers here to support the training between the Philippine and the U.S. soldiers," said U.S. Lt. Col. Steve...

Published on 2002-01-25, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MANY MORE TO COME Associated Press, Courtesy of KAKE-TV nad UHF-TV Net 25
U.S. soldiers arrive in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines on Thursday, bringing to 65 the number of U.S. troops in the Zamboanga area. Their six-month mission is to train Filipino soldiers to fight the Abu Sayyaf, a rebel group holding Kansans Martin and Gracia Burnham, left. The group has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. Eventually, more than 600 U.S. troops are to take part in the mission. Story,...

Published on 2002-01-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. WELCOMED IN PHILIPPINES ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Three beefy U.S. soldiers draw a giggle from passing schoolgirls. A young American officer takes a sweaty jog, ignored by civilians and Philippine troops. Six Americans in camouflage pants and black T-shirts chat with Filipino soldiers as they wait to unload a cargo plane.
The U.S. military is here - and more American soldiers are coming - but so far their low-profile presence has barely disturbed this city's lazy atmosphe re.
The United...

Published on 2002-01-26, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HISTORY OF DEATH, BATTLES LINGERS IN PHILIPPINES JAMES BROOKE, New York Times
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Seafaring Muslim rebels who kidnapped Christians for ransom were refusing to disarm, defiantly taking refuge behind the steep mountain walls of an extinct volcano. In response, a U.S. Army general mounted a Philippine-American military expedition from this largely Christian city. In a weeklong siege, 1,000 Muslims, largely women and children, were killed.
The year was 1913, the island was Jolo, and the general was John J. Pershing, known as Black Jack, who later...

Published on 2002-01-27, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE GANG TRIES TO KIDNAP DOLE CHIEF ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A notorious kidnapping gang raided a Dole Food Co. Inc. plantation Saturday in an apparent attempt to seize an American executiv e, but the gang was ambushed by police acting on a tip.
The raid came as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assured the nation that U.S. troops helping to fight another group of kidnappers, the Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels, would not participate directly in combat.
Police blamed the Dole plantation raid on the Pentagon Gang, which...

Published on 2002-01-27, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM'S SISTER PLEAS OVER RADIO ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - With American troops preparing for countert errorism exercises, the sister of an American hostage asked rebels Monday to release the Kansas couple they have held for eight months.
Mary Jones, sister of hostage Gracia Burnham, asked the Abu Sayyaf group to phone a Manila missionary office to discuss releasing Burnham and her husband, Martin, who are hostages on the nearby island of Basilan.
"We have no money for ransom," Jones...

Published on 2002-01-29, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE REBELS PROMISE TO KILL AMERICAN TROOPS INDIRA A.R. LAKSHMANAN, Boston Globe, Contributing: New York Times
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Abu Sayyaf rebels, saying they could quickly draw thousands of fighters into their ranks, are vowing to kill the American "invaders" sent to assist the Philippines in its attempt to snuff out the vicious criminal gang.
Abu Sulayman, who described himself as a spokesman for Khadafy Janjalani, leader of the Muslim group, said in an interview that the rebels who have taken hundreds of civilians hostage and beheaded scores of others are...

Published on 2002-01-30, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FIGHTING ON THREE FRONTS JODI ENDA, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to paint a grave and sobering picture of the potential dangers facing the United States and vowed to fight them head-on.
The president appeared resolute as he informed the public there are likely "tens of thousands" of terrorists still at large, that they have fanned out around the globe, that they were found to have diagrams of American nuclear power plants and water...

Published on 2002-01-30, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. LAUNCHES PARTNERSHIP WITH PHILIPPINE MILITARY RICHARD C. PADDOCK, Los Angeles Times
MANILA, Philippines - It's called "Balikatan," or "Shoulder to Shoulder," and it will soon be the biggest U.S. military operation in a combat zone outside Afghanistan since the war on terror began.
The Pentagon has committed 650 soldiers, including 160 Special Forces troops, to help the Philippine government track down and defeat the ruthless Abu Sayyaf, a gang of Islamic kidnappers that may have links to Osama bin...

Published on 2002-02-01, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

DESPITE RISKS TO MISSIONARIES, THEY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Tom Schaefer, The Wichita Eagle
All that was needed in a cartoon of a missionary standing in a large kettle was a clever punch line.
Such a cartoon used to be mildly amusing, even though cannibalistic treatment of missionaries was rarely, if ever, in vogue.
Today, the risks to missionaries and relief workers, especially since Sept. 11, are more widespread and life-threatening than a boiling pot of water.
According to a story in the current issue of Christianity Today, Crisis Consultation International,...

Published on 2002-02-02, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE TROOPS KILL AT LEAST 5 GUERRILLAS ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - At least five guerrillas were killed Friday in a battle with Philippine troops on Basilan island, where two Americans and a Filipino nurse are being held hostage, a Philippine military commander said.
The firefight came a day after the Philippines and the United States opened a training exercise aimed at wiping out the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who have been linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
In Manila, meanwhile, two lawyers asked the Supreme Court...

Published on 2002-02-02, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MORE COULD BE DONE TO HELP FREE MARTIN AND GRACIA BURNHAM Sharon Hamric, The Wichita Eagle
I cannot sit down to eat without thinking of Martin and Gracia Burnham. The missionaries from Rose Hill have begun their ninth month of captivity in the Philippine jungle.
You've probably winced at those haunting pictures of the emaciated couple on TV. If you want to see how the Burnhams looked before they were kidnapped by Abu Sayaf terrorists, go to http://ntm.org.
I am puzzled by the lack of a national outcry demanding the release of two Americans who have...

Published on 2002-02-02, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SOME OFFICIALS IN PHILIPPINES MAY HAVE HELPED ABU SAYYAF FOR MONEY INDIRA A.R. LAKSHMANAN, Boston Globe
BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines - It appears that high-ranking members of the Philippine military, as well as members of local government, may have colluded with the Islamic extremists that U.S. troops are being sent here to combat, a Globe investigation has found. The situation poses the potential for treacher ous conflicts in loyalties that may hamper the U.S. mission.
According to dozens of accounts from witnesses, sworn testimony presented before the Philippine Legislature, a government...

Published on 2002-02-03, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. TROOPS IN PHILIPPINES TO FIRE ONLY IN SELF-DEFENSE, LEADER SAYS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - U.S. special forces on an anti-terrorism training mission will enter combat zones but will use their weapons only in self-def ense, their commander said Saturday.
Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster also rejected comparisons between the American war in Afghanistan and the six-month mission in the Philippines.
"The comparisons are, I think, not terribly dramatic other than the fact that we have an ally that wants to destroy terrorism,"...

Published on 2002-02-03, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS QUESTION U.S. TROOPS' ROLE JANE PERLEZ, New York Times
MANILA, Philippines - As Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was embraced at the World Economic Forum in New York as a standout leader willing to accept American troops to fight terrorists, influential critics at home persisted over the weekend in asking what the Americans would really be doing.
At the heart of the concern is this: Will the Americans be fighting? And under whose command will the Americans be?
The issue is so vexing that the two governments have been...

Published on 2002-02-04, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OPINION LINE callers

I hope the money I donated to the Red Cross for Sept. 11 victims wasn't used to send officials to Cuba to check on Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners. I couldn't care less how they are doing ("Red Cross examines care of prisoners in Cuba," Jan. 19 Eagle).

The Red Cross should mind its own business and let the military take care of the prisoners.
-- -- --
The thought of the Red Cross worrying about the condition...

Published on 2002-02-04, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM FAMILY GETS COPY OF FULL INTERVIEW ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
An extended version of an interview with Martin and Gracia Burnham, videotaped in the Philippines, describes the execution of an American hostage and the captors' efforts to convert the missionaries to Islam.
The TV news magazine "48 Hours" gave Martin's parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham, the hourlong tape filmed two months ago by a Filipino journalist. The program that aired included only portions of the interview.
Meanwhile,...

Published on 2002-02-05, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EXTREMISTS ORDER RANSOM OF $2 MILLION FOR BURNHAMS Eagle staff and news services, Contributing: Associated Press; Alex Branch of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf is seeking a $2 million ransom for the release of Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, a Philippine TV station reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the president of the Philippines said Tuesday that she wants to hire former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani as her consultant on law and order.
The network ABS-CBN said it had obtained copies of four letters between rebel leader Abu Sabaya and his sister, who lives on...

Published on 2002-02-06, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM LETTERS SPORADIC, FEARFUL Eagle staff and news services
Kidnapped Rose Hill missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham have sporadic ally communicated with their family for months, a spokesman for New Tribes Mission said Wednesday.
In other developments Wednesday:
The Burnhams said in a letter that paying a ransom may be their only route to freedom and that they feared dying in a military rescue, a Philippine television station reported.
-- The head of the American forces, Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, said U.S. troops are ready to take...

Published on 2002-02-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EXERCISE IN PHILIPPINES SERVES AS TERRORIST WARNING JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - More than its military benefits, a countert errorism training exercise involving U.S. and Philippine troops serves as a warning that terrorists will find no haven in Southeast Asia, a top Philippine general said Saturday.
The maneuvers, called Balikatan or "shoulder to shoulder," will involve 660 Americans, including 160 Special Forces, who may observe Filipino troops in combat zones battling against the Muslim extremist group Abu...

Published on 2002-02-10, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ABU SAYYAF HAS LONG BEEN A PROBLEM SCOTT ROSS
Throughout the months that Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill have been held hostage in the Philippines, a small number of individuals have made statements that have caused the family pain. Some have claimed or implied that Martin and Gracia are getting what they deserve; and that it is wrong to expect or allow members of the Philippine military or U.S. military to be put in harm's way in an attempt to rescue them.
It is important for us all to honor every...

Published on 2002-02-11, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. SOLDIERS DRAW ON PAST TO HELP PHILIPPINE MILITARY JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - U.S. soldiers with Filipino heritage said Monday they will use familiarity with the Philippines to help their former homeland wipe out Muslim extremist rebels.
The soldiers - now U.S. citizens - are among 660 U.S. troops joining a training exercise with Philippine troops designed to destroy Abu Sayyaf rebels holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap hostage in the impoverished southern island of Basilan.
...

Published on 2002-02-12, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES, U.S. OK RULES FOR HELP OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and the United States approved rules Wednesday for a controversial military exercise aimed at improving the Philippine military's anti-terrorism capability.
Vice President Teofisto Guingona said he approved the terms of reference for the "Balikatan" - meaning "shoulder to shoulder" - exercise, aimed at wiping out the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which has been linked to the...

Published on 2002-02-14, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. STARTS TRAINING FILIPINOS SATURDAY PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - American soldiers will march into a Philippine jungle this weekend to train local troops to battle extremists, in the process broadening the U.S. military war against terrorism.
Critics see unnecessary dangers in the move.
Backers say it's a logical step to carry the anti-terrorism campaign beyond Afghanistan, and with far less military commitment.
"This is not an operation like you saw in Afghanistan," said Gen....

Published on 2002-02-15, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. ADVANCE TROOPS PREPARE FOR TRAINING JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - American soldiers began moving motorcycles, bedding, rockets and other gear to a jungle-swathed island Friday, setting up for a six-month counterterrorism training exercise that is rife with risks and complicated by political and cultural sensitivities.
The 21 support staffers headed for the island of Basilan, in the far southwestern Philippines, to bring equipment to an army camp in the capital city of Isabela. The camp is being used as a staging ground for the...

Published on 2002-02-16, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BLASTS UNDERSCORE DANGER IN PHILIPPINES JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
TABIAWAN, Philippines - Grenade blasts ripped through a market and a movie theater in the southern Philippines on Saturday, killing at least five people as more U.S. troops arrived under tight security to join a growing American force on a new front in the campaign against terrorism.
The blasts - one a few miles from a base where U.S. military personnel are staying - underscored dangers they could face while advising and training Philippine troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel...

Published on 2002-02-17, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. SPECIAL FORCES ARRIVE ON BASILAN JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
TABIAWAN ARMY BASE, Philippines - U.S. Army attack helicopters whipped up dust clouds and blew the tops off coconut trees as 30 U.S. Special Forces troops arrived Sunday on an island in the southern Philippines.
The U.S. forces are there to train soldiers battling Abu Sayyaf, Muslim rebels who are holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap hostage.
The start of the training mission opens a new front in the U.S. war against terrorism...

Published on 2002-02-18, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. ALTERS POLICY ON HOSTAGES JUDITH MILLER, New York Times, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
After a protracted debate that pitted the State Department against the Pentagon, the Bush administration has adopted a new policy that requires the federal government to review every kidnapping of an American overseas for possible action, administration officials say.
Parts of the new approach, which President Bush was approved, were to be adopted without public disclosure or fanfare. The new policy was described by officials who said its provisions marked a significant turn in this...

Published on 2002-02-18, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS SKIRMISH WITH REBELS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A clash broke out today between government troops and suspected Muslim rebels on a southern island near the base where U.S. Special Forces are moving in as part of a counter-terrorism training exercise, a Philippine military official said.
The seven American soldiers already there were not in danger and were not involved in the fighting near the town of Maluso on Basilan, the official said.
Army officials said the navy forces traveled by rubber boats to...

Published on 2002-02-19, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled from Eagle news services
Burnham family, mission dispute recent sightings
Despite some media reports Tuesday that kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham had been seen by Philippine soldiers as recently as last week, the Burnhams' mission and relatives say the latest information they have is that the Rose Hill hostages were last seen in late January.
"We haven't heard of any sightings this month at all," Paul Burnham, Martin...

Published on 2002-02-20, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. BEGINS PHILIPPINE SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS THOMAS E. RICKS AND ALAN SIPRESS, Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has begun conducting intelligence-gathering flights over the southern Philippines in a significant expansion of its war on terrorism in that country, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.
The surveillance flights, which have not previously been disclosed, are meant to complement the growing presence of U.S. soldiers on the ground, projected to peak at 660 troops in coming months.
By later this spring, the defense official predicted that the...

Published on 2002-02-21, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HOSTAGES -For the board, Randy Scholfield
Many Kansans rightly have felt frustrated by the government's slow response to the kidnapping of Martin and Gracia Burnham, the Rose Hill couple whose plight seemed to register little comment or action in Washington until recently.
Given that experience, we're encouraged that President Bush recently approved a new policy that requires a review of every U.S. hostage-taking abroad, including options for possible U.S. action.
The policy shift should bring...

Published on 2002-02-22, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ABU SAYYAF REPORTEDLY SENDS SIGNALS OF BURNHAM RELEASE ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
The terrorists holding Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage in the Philippines are reportedly "putting out feelers" for an agreement to release the Kansas missionaries.
Martin Burnham's parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill, said Thursday that a U.S. State Department official told them that the development is a good sign that the Abu Sayyaf is seeking a peaceful resolution in the face of a growing U.S. military presence.
...

Published on 2002-02-22, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FAMILIES VENERATE FALLEN SERVICEMEN Associated Press
PISGAH, Ala. -The family of Army Sgt. Jeremy Foshee, the crew chief of the Army helicopter that went down in the Philippines, says he was anxious to leave the Army as his six-year stint was winding to an end.
"He liked his job but he was ready to get out and come home," said his father, Bobby Foshee.
Foshee had been scheduled to be discharged in May. He told his hair stylist while on leave in his northern Alabama hometown of Pisgah to leave it a little...

Published on 2002-02-25, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. TELLS PHILIPPINES IT WON'T ACT SECRETLY JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - A visiting U.S. State Department official has offered assurances that American troops will not undertake any covert operation to rescue Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held for almost nine months by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, a Philippine official said Sunday.
James Kelley, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also said the U.S. government would never pay ransom for the release of the Burnhams,...

Published on 2002-02-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MURDER CAN'T SAP HOPE FOR BURNHAMS ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Television images of a desperate, haggard Gracia Burnham pleading for help are often too much for Alberto Sobero.
He sees Gracia's emaciated husband, Martin, and hears the Rose Hill missionaries' anguishing over their three children.
He gets sad. Then angry. And he thinks of his big brother Guillermo Sobero - a former Abu Sayyaf hostage alongside the Burnhams whose murder last summer first cued Kansans to the Philippine rebels'...

Published on 2002-02-27, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MEMORIAL SERVICE HONORS HELICOPTER CRASH VICTIMS ADAM BROWN, Associated Press
MACTAN AIR BASE, Philippines -American and Philippine soldiers gathered in an airplane hangar Tuesday to honor 10 colleagues killed in a helicopter crash during anti-terrorism exercises last week.
The 10 dead - an eight-man Army crew from Fort Campbell, Ky., and two Air Force para-rescuers based in Japan - were part of a 660-member American force training Philippine soldiers to fight Muslim extremist guerrillas.
Their helicopter crashed before dawn Friday off Negros island in the...

Published on 2002-02-27, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

CAUTION -For the board, Rhonda Holman
The war on terrorism will require expanding the U.S. military's presence around the world. But the administration needs to be cautious about overexte nding a military that has served so bravely and well in Afghanistan.
Not only are American soldiers still performing tasks in Afghanistan and covering such pre-Sept. 11 duties as patrolling the Iraqi no-fly zones, they also are on the ground in the Philippines, doing counterterrorism training with the Philippine military and...

Published on 2002-03-02, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BOMBINGS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA TARGETED REGION'S CHRISTIANS RICHARD C. PADDOCK, Los Angeles Times
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Terror suspects connected to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network organized and financed a wave of deadly bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines over the past 14 months to advance a holy war aimed at carving out an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
Evidence pieced together from the accounts of admitted bombing particip ants, official documents and interviews with authorities shows that the Jemaah Islamiah terror ring has orchestrated a campaign of...

Published on 2002-03-03, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ABU SAYYAF RELATIVES TAKEN FOR HOSTAGE SWAP OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A southern Philippine mayor said Wednesday that his followers seized eight relatives of Muslim extremist rebels in a bid to force them to swap a Rose Hill couple and a Filipino nurse they hold hostage.
Mayor Sakib Salajin of Maluso, a town on Basilan island near Zamboanga, said his followers have taken custody of four men and four women "so that we will have some bargaining power."
"Our target now is we want to...

Published on 2002-03-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS QUESTION VIDEO'S DATE ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
The parents of a kidnapped missionary doubt that a videotape showing a healthier-looking Martin and Gracia Burnham was made in January, as the former Muslim rebel who provided the film claims.
The Burnhams' mission, Florida-based New Tribes Mission, agrees that the tape is old and considers it of little value.
"After reviewing it, we're under the impression it was made months ago," mission spokesman Scott Ross said.
The...

Published on 2002-03-08, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. SUPPORT NARROWS LOCATION OF BURNHAMS TYLER MARSHALL, Los Angeles Times
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine armed forces, with U.S. assistance, have determined the general location of two American hostages being held by Islamic militants on the southern island of Basilan and are ready to launch operations to free them, the country's chief military spokesman said Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said he expects new sightings of American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham to come quickly, now that U.S. military personnel and...

Published on 2002-03-08, Page 8B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EDITORIALS IN BRIEF - For the board, Phillip Brownlee, Rhonda Holman and L.
Kelly
Abu Sayyaf's ploy
Recent news of Martin and Gracia Burnham stirs both hope and regret:
-- Hope, because it had been several months since the world had seen pictures of the Rose Hill missionaries, and because the undated videotape newly obtained by the Reuters News Agency shows the Burnhams alive.
-- Regret, because the circumstances of the couple's captivity only seem to get more tense and frightening, and because their captors, the Muslim rebel...

Published on 2002-03-08, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled from Eagle news services
Spy drones sent to Philippines
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The U.S. military has shipped unmanned spy planes to the Philippines to take part in anti-terrorism training exercises aimed at wiping out a group holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham from Rose Hill, officials said Monday.
The Gnat UAVs - which are similar to the Predator drones being used in Afghanistan - would give "that extra edge" to the Philippine military, said Maj. Cynthia...

Published on 2002-03-12, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WORLD IN BRIEF Compiled from Eagle news services
Philippine army steps up fighting
ISABELA, Philippines - The Philippine military is ramping up its cat-and- mouse game with Abu Sayyaf rebels in the southern jungles where U.S. special forces soldiers are deployed to help hunt the quarry.
Col. Alejandro Aleo, commander of the Philippine army's 103rd Brigade, said civilians and government militiamen report seeing small groups of guerrillas who quickly disappear in the jungles of the southern island of Basilan, where...

Published on 2002-03-13, Page 11A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ABU SAYYAF TELLS BOY HELPERS TO RETURN HOME TO VILLAGES DOUG STRUCK, Washington Post
ISABELA, Philippines - For two years, Kassim lived in the mountains with Muslim rebels, hauling their water and racing through the jungle with their ammunition and weapons when government soldiers neared.
Kassim is 12.
He and six other boys emerged from the jungle here on Basilan island in January. The boys' return to their villages - the Abu Sayyaf told them to take "a vacation" - is seen by some here as a sign the guerrilla band is under...

Published on 2002-03-17, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS CLASH WITH GUERRILLAS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - More than 100 Philippine troops clashed Sunday with about two dozen members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on a southern island where American forces are training soldiers as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism, officials said.
At least one militiaman fighting with the soldiers was slightly injured in a running gun battle that erupted at dawn and dragged on through the day in coconut groves on Basilan island, said Col. Alexander Aleo, a Philippine...

Published on 2002-03-18, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. ENTERS COMBAT ZONE TO AID PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
UPPER MANGGAS, Philippines - Green Berets in a pickup sped into a combat zone Tuesday to help Filipino soldiers to safety after rebels unleashed grenades and small-arms fire on a Filipino army patrol.
It was the second time U.S. troops have ventured into the combat zone since February, when they began advising the Philippine army in its fight against Abu Sayyaf rebels. Abu Sayyaf has been holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap hostage for...

Published on 2002-03-20, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FIERCE BATTLE KILLS SEVERAL ABU SAYYAF TYLER MARSHALL, Los Angeles Times
ISABELA, Philippines - The voice, tense and urgent, crackled over Philippi ne Capt. Harold Cabunoc's radio with the news that fighting had begun.
"It's ongoing! It's ongoing!" came the raw-edged words from the battle zone.
The latest battle with Islamic rebels was under way along this remote front of America's global war against terrorism - the southern island of Basilan.
The encounter, against...

Published on 2002-03-22, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MULTINATIONAL GROUP URGES NONMILITARY ACTION AGAINST REBELS Eagle staff and news services, Contributing: Lori O'Toole Buselt of The Eagle; Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Members of an international peace mission said Friday that they will seek a nonmilitary alternative to a U.S.-Philippine campaign against a Muslim extremist group holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and a Philippine nurse on Basilan island in the southern part of the country.
Ongoing military training aimed at wiping out the extremist Abu Sayyaf group involves 660 U.S. soldiers, including 160 from the special forces who have been deployed with...

Published on 2002-03-23, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FIGHTING INJURES ABU SAYYAF LEADER JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Philippine troops killed five Muslim rebels Saturday and saw an unidentified woman with the fleeing guerrillas, who are holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage on a southern island, military officials said.
The woman could be one of two female hostages held by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas - Gracia Burnham or Filipino nurse Deborah Yap - or she could be a supporter or wife of a rebel, said Maj. Noel Detoyato, a regional military...

Published on 2002-03-24, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS' RESCUE IS IN WORKS, AIDE SAYS JANE PERLEZ, New York Times, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle; Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops have clashed several times in the past week with Abu Sayyaf rebels holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage, leading to suggestions here that an attempt to rescue the couple from the remote jungle island of Basilan may be imminent.
A number of factors point to stepped-up efforts to rescue the Burnhams. Among the concerns is what is presumed to be the rapidly deteriorating health of the couple, who have been held in the...

Published on 2002-03-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

$3 MILLION RANSOM FOR BURNHAMS' RELEASE CAN'T BE CONFIRMED ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Philippine officials are denying a television news report that a $3 million ransom has already been paid for the release of kidnapped Kansas missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, the Reuters News Service reported Tuesday.
A U.S. State Department official, however, would neither confirm nor deny the report when asked about it at a news briefing Tuesday.
Fox News reported Monday that the U.S. government facilitated up to a $3 million payment made with private funds. The money...

Published on 2002-03-27, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. SOLDIERS TO STAY LONGER IN PHILIPPINES JANE PERLEZ, New York Times
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The U.S. troops sent here with fanfare to train the Philippine military in counterterrorism, and to help rescue Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, will most likely stay longer than the originally announced six months, U.S. and Filipino officials say.
The heart of the training by 160 special operations soldiers on the island of Basilan, just across the straits from this southern city, has yet to begin even though the exercise was supposed to wind...

Published on 2002-03-31, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

IS ABU SAYYAF SENDING FUNDS TO AL-QAIDA? Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, which has been holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage for more than 10 months, is believed to regularly be funneling ransom money to the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan, a top Philippine official said Monday.
"That is what the FBI is telling us. The volume of money is apparently significant," Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said.
U.S. officials declined to...

Published on 2002-04-02, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WERE BURNHAMS SIGHTED? U.S. REFUSES TO COMMENT ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - State Department officials would not comment Thursday on a Reuters news service report that a U.S. spy plane had spotted the possible location of Martin and Gracia Burnham, who are being held hostage on Basilan island in the southern Philippines.
"We have no comment on that report or the many reports of recent days," said spokesman Joe Reap in response to statements by Philippine Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu that surveillance drones located the Burnhams....

Published on 2002-04-05, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY BURNHAMS' IMPORTANCE ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - If you asked anyone from the Wichita area why U.S. troops are in the Philippines, "to free the Burnhams" would probably be a common response .
But if you listen to American policymakers, you might hear a different reply.
As U.S.-Philippine joint military training operations continue on Basilan island, U.S. officials are increasingly downplaying the Burnhams - Rose Hill missionaries who were kidnapped by Muslim guerrillas in May - and...

Published on 2002-04-05, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MORE TROOPS COULD BE SENT TO PHILIPPINES JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The United States might send 300 additional military personnel to the Philippines to help rebuild roads, seaports and an airstrip on a southern island where Rose Hill hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham are being held, a Philippine army officer said Sunday.
That contingent would join 660 Americans already here for a six-month counterterrorism training exercise helping Philippine soldiers fight the Abu Sayyaf, Muslim rebels who are thought to have links to Osama...

Published on 2002-04-08, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ITALIAN PRIEST ABDUCTED BY PHILIPPINE REBELS IS RELEASED TINI TRAN, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - With the safe recovery Monday of an Italian priest abducted by Muslim rebels in the Philippines six months ago, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to step up the fight against gangs that kidnap for ransom.
Giuseppe "Beppe" Pierantoni, 45, was kidnapped Oct. 17 in southern Zamboang a del Sur province by the "Pentagon" group, believed to be composed of former Muslim separatist rebels.
The group is on...

Published on 2002-04-09, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSION SAYS BURNHAMS ARE OK ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Martin and Gracia Burnham are together and as healthy as could be expected after 10 months as hostages in the Philippine jungle, the Burnhams' mission says.
The information comes from sources that Florida-based New Tribes Mission has built in its decades of mission work in the country, mission officials said Tuesday.
Martin's family has received few updates on the kidnapped Kansas missiona ries since they appeared emaciated and exhausted in a videotaped...

Published on 2002-04-10, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

NEGOTIATIONS UNDER WAY TO FREE BURNHAMS CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press, Contributing: The Wichita Eagle
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is monitoring negotiations aimed at winning the release of Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill, who have been held hostage by rebels in the Philippines for nearly a year, senior U.S. officials said Thursday night.
Doug Burnham, Martin's brother, said the family had not heard anything about negotiations late Thursday.
The officials said that the negotiations were being conducted by a group known to the rebels and that the talks...

Published on 2002-04-12, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PAYING RANSOM MAY BE WAY TO NAB ABU SAYYAF Associated Press, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle.
WASHINGTON - Officially, the United States strongly discourages paying ransom to kidnappers of Americans overseas on the theory that it encourages more abductions.
Yet senior Bush administration officials are monitoring negotiations to free Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held hostage in the Philippines for 10 months.
The talks include the possible payment of a hefty ransom to the Abu Sayyaf, the group that kidnapped the Burnhams and that has been linked to the al-Qaida...

Published on 2002-04-13, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. IS MUM ON BURNHAMS RESCUE Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A top U.S. military commander refused to comment Tuesday on reports that Washington was involved in negotiations with Muslim extremists to win the release of Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, held for more than 10 months by the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Adm. Dennis Blair, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said, however, that Washington remains committed to the Philippine campaign of crushing the militant group. Blair also said the United...

Published on 2002-04-17, Page 8B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE U.S. Compiled from Eagle news services
Odds of Burnham rescue 'very high'
WASHINGTON - American sailors are waiting off the Philippine coast for approval to go ashore in a plan to expand counterterrorism efforts against Muslim extremists, senior defense officials said Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has approved the deployment of 300 Navy Seabees, engineers who will build an aircraft landing strip, pave roads and undertake other civil projects in support of U.S. troops already...

Published on 2002-04-18, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

2,700 U.S. FORCES ARE BOUND FOR PHILIPPINES PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The United States is sending 2,700 more soldiers to the Philippines for a joint military exercise, three months after a smaller U.S. force was dispatched for a controversial counterterrorism mission.
The three-week joint military exercise with 2,900 Philippine fighters begins Sunday and is aimed at helping Washington's biggest Southeast Asian ally improve its defenses and ability to participate in U.N. peacekeeping missions, the Philippine military...

Published on 2002-04-19, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES SEES ARRIVAL OF TROOPS TO BUILD ROADS OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
FUEGO FUEGO BEACH, Philippines - More than 300 U.S. military engineers bringing bulldozers and heavy equipment landed Saturday on a Philippine island to work on construction projects to help a American-backed offensive against the Muslim extremists who are holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage.
U.S. officials said the troops will, among other things, build roads, helicopter landing zones and clear an unused airstrip for the 160 U.S. special forces soldiers...

Published on 2002-04-21, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE BLASTS KILL AT LEAST 14 PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Three explosions ripped through a city in the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 45 others after a radio-station caller warned of a wave of bombings.
Early today, there was another small blast on a fishing boat outside the city of General Santos as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo surveyed the damage from Sunday's bombs and met with the mayor. No injuries were reported in the latest explosion.
Police blamed...

Published on 2002-04-22, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled by Eagle news services
Philippines vows to fight terrorism
One day after a series of bombings left 14 people dead and about 60 injured in the southern Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed Monday to fight terrorism.
A spokesman claiming to represent Abu Sayyaf - the group holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage - told a Mindanao radio station that members of his organization had carried out the attack and vowed that more bombings would follow. "The...

Published on 2002-04-23, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM SAYS REBELS RENEGED ON RELEASE DEAL Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The father of a kidnapped American on Thursday accused the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group of reneging on an agreement to release his son and daughter-in-law.
Paul Burnham called Radio Mindanao Network in the southern Philippines, saying the Abu Sayyaf had added extra, unspecified conditions to the deal that he said was finalized on March 13 and was to include the release of Filipino nurse Deborah Yap.
Missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill and...

Published on 2002-04-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SETBACK FRUSTRATES BURNHAM RELATIVES TIM POTTER, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle's Washington bureau; Associated
Press
The Rose Hill family of hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham has been disappointed before. From time to time over the past 11 months, they've thought the couple might be released by their Filipino rebel captors.
But the relatives are especially discouraged now, they say, because the rebels have not kept an agreement reached last month to free the couple.
"It's getting hard to keep hope," Paul Burnham, father of 42-year-old...

Published on 2002-04-26, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AROUND THE WORLD Compiled from Eagle news services
U.S. military chief arrives in Manila
MANILA, Philippines - Starting a visit to Washington's top three allies in Asia, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived Friday in the Philippines, where nearly 4,000 American soldiers are involved in joint military exercises. Gen. Richard Myers met Friday with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other Philippine officials and planned to go Sunday to visit the 1,000-strong U.S. contingent deployed to the southern part...

Published on 2002-04-27, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ABU SAYYAF FREES REPORTER WHO INTERVIEWED BURNHAMS OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A journalist who has been missing for three months was freed by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the southern Philippines early Saturday, officials said.
Arlyn de la Cruz, 32, obtained the first interviews of Rose Hill hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham late last year, then vanished in late January while apparently seeking access to the captives again.
Smiling, she was wearing a Muslim headdress that she took off as she arrived in Manila.
"By the...

Published on 2002-04-28, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

JOINT CHIEFS LEADER VISITS TROOPS IN PHILIPPINES, PRAISES PROGRESS OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday visited U.S. troops training Filipino soldiers to better fight Abu Sayyaf, the Muslim extremist group holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham in the southern Philippines.
Gen. Richard Myers held a closed-door meeting with Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, chief of the Philippines' Southern Command, and local mayor Maria Clara Lobregat before he toured the camp where part of the 660-strong...

Published on 2002-04-29, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

REPORT: 'LAST DEAL' FOR BURNHAMS? OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A Muslim extremist group has offered to hold negotiations to release Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, a radio station reported early today.
The Radio Mindanao Network quoted Abu Sabaya, leader of the Abu Sayyaf group, as saying the rebels were open to "last deal" talks with regional Muslim Gov. Parouk Hussin, presidential adviser Norberto Gonzales and an unidentified Malaysian.
Hussin...

Published on 2002-04-29, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GROUP THREATENS TO KILL BURNHAMS ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Associated Press
The leader of a Muslim rebel group holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage made another threat to kill the couple Wednesday on a Philippines radio station.
"We have closed the negotiations so it is up to them (the government) to look for the dead body if they want to," Abu Sabaya said.
Asked if he meant the group would kill the Burnhams, Sabaya said: "It depends. For example, if we see our situation becoming...

Published on 2002-05-02, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WORLD IN BRIEFPhilippines raids al-Qaida camp
MANILA, Philippines - Authorities raided a suspected al-Qaida-linked terrorist training camp at an Islamic school in the northern Philippines and seized weapons after a clash in which nine militants were arrested, police said Saturday.
Police said the camp was linked to al-Qaida but not to Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines with ties to the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden. Abu Sayyaf has been holding Rose Hill...

Published on 2002-05-05, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EX-CAPTIVES DETAIL BURNHAMS' CONDITION GREGG JONES, Dallas Morning News
BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines - Martin Burnham, the Rose Hill missionary held hostage for almost a year by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, passes his days in a hammock hung between two trees in a jungle camp. His wrists are handcuffed. His movement is limited by a short chain looped around his shackles and tethered to a tree.
His wife, Gracia Burnham, is able to move about, bathe, wash clothes and draw water from a nearby river. She must cover her head with a Muslim veil, but...

Published on 2002-05-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS DESERVE MORE ATTENTIONMartin and Gracia Burnham shouldn't be allowed to be forgotten because they're from Kansas, they're not media stars, and their parents have stoically and faithfully worked within the system to press for their release. The parents could have been whiners. They could have staged protests, like everyone else does these days. They could have pitched a fit and complained bitterly about the government's impotence. Instead, they've...

Published on 2002-05-09, Page 12A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MARTIN BURNHAM MAY HAVE MALARIA ALAN BJERGA , Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials were investigating international media reports Friday that Martin Burnham has steadily worsening malaria, raising fears he could die without proper treatment.
Oreta Burnham, Martin's mother, said the State Department is following up reports by French, German and British news services quoting Philippine Col. Alexander Aleo as saying that Martin Burnham has suffered from malaria for the past several weeks and that lack of rest is making his...

Published on 2002-05-11, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MILITARY WILL LET MEDS BE GIVEN TO BURNHAM JERRY ABEJO, The Wichita Eagle
Philippine military officials say they will allow a private group to supply medicine to hostage Martin Burnham, who is reportedly suffering from malaria, according to foreign wire reports.
Oreta Burnham, Martin's mother, said the family isn't sure her son is suffering from the disease. But she hopes that medicine can be supplied if he is sick.
She said State Department officials are questioning the validity of the illness report. She has heard similar...

Published on 2002-05-12, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE GENERAL ASKS U.S. TROOPS TO STAY LONGER OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
SUMISIP, Philippines - A Philippine general said Sunday he will recommend extending the stay of U.S. military engineers involved in construction projects as part of an anti-terrorism exercise on a southern island.
Philippine Marine Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, Filipino director of the exercise, said the early onset of the rainy season, lack of construction materials and bad road conditions on Basilan island are delaying the work.
About 1,000 U.S. soldiers are involved in the...

Published on 2002-05-13, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

REPORT: ABU SAYYAF MAY FREE ONE HOSTAGE ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
The Muslim rebels holding two Rose Hill missionaries captive in the Philippines are considering releasing Gracia Burnham, who is reportedly ill with a urinary tract infection, according to a Filipino newspaper.
But the Abu Sayyaf may keep her husband, Martin Burnham, who reportedly has malaria, and a Filipino nurse, Deborah Yap, as human shields against the military, the Philippine Star reported Monday.
The paper attributed those claims to an unnamed negotiator who says he has...

Published on 2002-05-14, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

IN ROSE HILL, A MOTHER WAITS FOR THE ONLY PRESENT SHE REALLY WANTSEach morning, Oreta Burnham pins a yellow ribbon to her shirt just above her heart. It's a mother's proclamation that she believes her son and his wife are coming home.
The call that derailed her life came at 2 a.m. last May 28.
Two days before Oreta's 65th birthday, she learned that armed guerrillas had kidnapped Martin and Gracia from a beach hotel in the Philippines.
Like his parents, Martin had dedicated his life to working as a...

Published on 2002-05-18, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS -For the board, L. Kelly
It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill were taken hostage in the Philippines. Hard to believe that despite the presence of about 7,000 Philippine and 1,000 U.S. soldiers, the small band of Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holding the Burnhams has eluded capture. But it's easy to believe that the Burnhams have been sustained throughout their ordeal by hope and prayer.
How else to explain the persistent...

Published on 2002-05-19, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. FINDS NO SIGN OF BURNHAMS Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Nearly a year since Filipino Muslim extremists abducted Gracia and Martin Burnham, a massive U.S.-backed search has failed to pinpoint them, a U.S. general said Monday.
Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, head of U.S. troops in the southern Philippines, said the search for Martin and Gracia Burnham, a Rose Hill missionary couple, has turned up no encouraging leads despite the use of U.S. military surveillance planes and equipment since January.
...

Published on 2002-05-21, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

REPORTS OF BURNHAMS' FAILING HEALTH DISMISSED ROBERT PEREZ, Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. -Martin Burnham, one of two American missionaries held hostage in the Philippines, is seriously ill and was seen being carried on a stretcher, Philippine media said Wednesday.
But a spokesman for New Tribes Mission, the organization to which Martin Burnham and his wife, Gracia, belong, immediately dismissed the report.
New Tribes sources confirm Martin Burnham, 42, is ill, but not seriously ill, spokesman Scott Ross said.
"Martin has a mild case of...

Published on 2002-05-23, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE AUTHORITIES NAB LEADER OF ABU SAYYAF UNIT JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Police arrested a Muslim guerrilla leader suspecte d of masterminding recent deadly bombings in what authorities said was a major blow to the al-Qaida-linked group, officials said Thursday.
Nearly 50 police and military intelligence agents arrested Noor Mohammad Umog, who allegedly heads a special operations unit of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, as he emerged from a restaurant Wednesday in southern Cotabato city, police senior superintendent Bartolome Baluyot said. Abu...

Published on 2002-05-24, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS RELY ON CHRISTIAN MEDIA TO SPREAD THE WORD ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
To free Martin and Gracia Burnham, media attention helps generate awareness, which helps generate action.
But Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill haven't been relying on mainstream media outlets - TV networks, news magazines and daily newspapers - to spread the word of their son and daughter-in-law's Philippine captivity.
Oreta Burnham said they rely on publications like Christianity Today, television outlets like the Christian...

Published on 2002-05-25, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WHY THEY HAVEN'T BEEN RESCUED ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Paul and Oreta Burnham look to God to free Martin and Gracia Burnham, their son and daughter-in-law who were kidnapped one year ago this weekend by Muslim extremists in the Philippines.
That faith may be their greatest hope where soldiers and governments have failed. Political pressure on the Abu Sayyaf terrorists hasn't worked. Military rescue hasn't worked. Even paying the ransom that Abu Sayyaf demanded hasn't worked.
The...

Published on 2002-05-26, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSING MOM AND DAD ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
A year ago, three children stood on the front porch of their house in the northern Philippines as a family friend told them their parents had been kidnapped.
But don't worry, explained Aunt Lynn, as they affectionately called her, it will only be for a few days.
Stunned and frightened, Martin and Gracia Burnham's children - Jeff, 14, Mindy, 11, and Zach, 10 - hoped Aunt Lynn was right.
Their parents were missionaries. They had no money. And they...

Published on 2002-05-26, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS' FRIENDS, FAMILY MARK 1 YEAR ALAN BJERGA, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Marking the anniversary of Martin and Gracia Burnham's captivity, Rose Hill Bible Church members fell back on their one constant in a year of false hope and continuing fear: their faith.
"Why do people suffer?" asked Paul Burnham, delivering the message at a Sunday night service to remember his son and daughter-in-law, held by Abu Sayyaf terrorists on the Philippines' Basilan island for one year as of today.
...

Published on 2002-05-27, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. SOLDIERS TRY TO QUELL BASILAN FEARS GREGG JONES, Dallas Morning News
ISABELA, Philippines - You learned to live with the fear, said Sonia Acuna. If you were Christian and couldn't afford to leave Basilan island, you had no choice.
You left your house each morning on edge, wondering whether this would be your day to be kidnapped or beheaded by Abu Sayyaf, the brutal band of Muslim rebels that has terrorized this island for a decade, Acuna said.
For the past year, Abu Sayyaf has been holding Rose Hill missionaries Gracia and Martin...

Published on 2002-05-28, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

KC CHURCH MEMBERS PRAY FOR BURNHAMS Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -A year after a Kansas missionary couple was taken hostage in the Philippines, about 300 people gathered at a Kansas City church to pray for them.
Gracia and Martin Burnham of Rose Hill, were taken hostage May 27, 2001, by a Muslim extremist group. The Burnhams, who met at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at a Philippine resort when the Abu Sayyaf snatched 21 people.
The Burnhams and a Filipina nurse are the only...

Published on 2002-05-29, Page 8B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. PUTS BOUNTY ON ABU SAYYAF CARMELA CRUZ, Associated Press, Contributing: Alex Branch of The Eagle
MANILA, Philippines - The United States set up a hot line and offered a reward of as much as $5 million Wednesday for the capture of leaders of Abu Sayyaf, the group that has held Rose Hill missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham hostage for a year.
U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said the reward is for any or all of five leaders of the group, including Abu Sabaya, who is accused of mastermi nding a raid in which the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped the Burnhams, Californian Guillermo Sobero and...

Published on 2002-05-30, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. MILITARY WEIGHS PHILIPPINES OPTIONS PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Muslim extremists holding an American couple hostage in the Philippines stand to come under increased pressure from the U.S. military.
The Pentagon is debating a recommendation by its Pacific commander to move U.S. military advisers already in the Philippines closer to the search for Martin and Gracia Burnham, defense officials said Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
The move comes as the clock ticks down on the Defense Department's six-mont h deployment...

Published on 2002-05-31, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OFFICIAL: BURNHAM TRAIL ISN'T COLD MATT KELLEY, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - U.S. and Filipino forces are getting closer to finding Martin and Gracia Burnham, the Rose Hill missionary couple kidnapped a year ago by Muslim militants, the Pentagon's second in command said Sunday.
"The trail isn't cold," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said.
Martin's mother, Oreta Burnham, said she had read the statement on the Internet but had not spoken to anyone with the U.S....

Published on 2002-06-03, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS BEG FOR U.S. TO EXTEND STAY MATT KELLEY, Associated Press
TABIAWAN, Philippines - Filipinos from military generals to dirt-poor villagers Monday urged Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to expand the mission of U.S. troops helping in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf.
The No. 2 Pentagon official visited a military outpost in this tiny thatched-hut village to talk to some of the soldiers involved in the Philippi ne front in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
About 600 U.S. soldiers are on the southern Philippine island of Basilan to...

Published on 2002-06-04, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE REBELS MAY HAVE FLED ISLE VERMIN LOEB, Washington Post, Contributing: Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that Philippine military officials think the presence of U.S. Special Forces trainers in the southern Philippines has led terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf group to flee their stronghold on Basilan island.
But Rumsfeld cautioned that simply driving terrorists from one place to another will not produce a "net gain" in the war on...

Published on 2002-06-05, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MUDDY FOOTPRINTS LEAD TO GUERRILLAS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The yearlong hostage crisis ended today after a Philippine army team spotted muddy footprints in mountainous jungle and realized they had found the prey they had been chasing for so long.
Ahead were more than two dozen Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and their three remaining captives - Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and a Filipino nurse. The troops hoped to rescue all the hostages and wipe out a significant part of what remained of the al-Qaida-linked...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MARTIN'S FAMILY THANKS COMMUNITY, NATION AND GOD LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
The Burnhams of Rose Hill have been waiting for more than a year for a middle-of-the night phone call with news of the release of Martin Burnham and his wife, Gracia, who have been held hostage in the Philippines by Muslim extremists.
That phone call came around 4 a.m. today.
And although the news of Martin's death saddened them, family member say they're holding tight to their faith that Martin is in heaven and God's will has been done.
...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MARTIN BURNHAM KILLED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, Contributing: The Associated Press and Tim Potter of The Eagle.
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Rose Hill hostage Martin Burnham was killed today and his wife, Gracia, was shot in the leg but rescued when Philippine troops launched a strike on their Muslim extremist kidnappers.
Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, who was held hostage with the missionary couple, was shot in the rescue operation and died of her wounds shortly afterward, Philippine Gen. Narciso Abaya said.
Martin Burnham, 42, kidnapped more than a year ago along with his wife by the Abu...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSION GROUP 'HEARTSICK' ABOUT THE TURN OF EVENTS ROBERT PEREZ, Orlando Sentinel
SANFORD, Fla. -The rescue attempt of Martin and Gracia Burnham stunned officials at New Tribes Mission, who have long feared that a military operatio n would result in the death of one or both of the Burnhams.
With a flag flying at half-staff, a somber Scott Ross, chief spokesman for New Tribes throughout the ordeal, called a news conference moments after informing missionary staff.
Describing the mood inside, Ross said everyone was "sad about Martin but glorious...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

A YEAR IN CAPTIVITY . . .Martin and Gracia Burnham were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary when they were abducted from a Philippine resort. Today, after 377 days in captivity, their ordeal at the hands of the Muslim rebel group Abu Sayyaf is over.
May 27, 2001: About 20 gunmen in ski masks arrive at a Philippine resort at dawn, taking Martin and Gracia Burnham, an American tourist from California and 17 others. Paul and Oreta Burnham of Rose Hill receive a call at 1:30 a.m. informing them that their...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ARROYO STATEMENTStatement today from Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the rescue attempt of Martin and Gracia Burnham:
"This has been a long and painful trial for them, for our government, for our country. Our soldiers tried their best to hold their fire for safety. We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RELATIVES, FRIENDS SAY FAITH WILL HELP THEM ENDURE LOSS TIM POTTER, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Ever since Philippine rebels abducted missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham more than a year ago, people have gathered at their hometown church - Rose Hill Bible Church - at 6 every morning to pray for their safe release.
Relatives and friends of the couple prayed again this morning - even with the fresh and painful knowledge that Martin had been killed and Gracia wounded in a military rescue operation. They prayed, said Leslie Edgington, because ...

Published on 2002-06-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TOWN MOURNS FOR MARTIN BURNHAM LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Longtime Rose Hill resident Bill Mayo lowered the flag in front of his home Friday in memory of Martin Burnham, killed earlier in the day during a rescue attempt in the Philippines.
Wichita resident Pinky Stephens delivered a vase of more than 100 roses to the home of Paul and Oreta Burnham, Martin's parents.
Neither of them knew Martin and his wife, Gracia, who was wounded during the rescue.
But like dozens of others who offered prayers of...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TRAGIC -For the board, Rhonda Holman
The long vigil of the family and friends of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham was not supposed to end the way it did early Friday morning, with tears of grief mingling with those of joy. In the end, a Philippine army firefight with the murderous thugs of the Abu Sayyaf sect destroyed the dream that so many in south-central Kansas had clung to for the past year - of the happy day that both Martin and Gracia Burnham would step off an airplane at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport and into the...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

WHAT-IF QUESTIONS ARISE AFTER GUN BATTLE ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times
WASHINGTON - Martin Burnham's death during a gun battle in the Philippines illustrates the limitations on U.S. military power and the painful tradeoffs required to keep important allies in the global campaign against terrorism.
Late last month, U.S. commanders handed Philippine forces a crucial piece of information about the hostages' suspected whereabouts, U.S. and Philippine military sources said, and helped the Philippine military plan a rescue mission. But...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

CHURCHES WILL REMEMBER BURNHAMS' EXAMPLE, SACRIFICE JULIE MAH, The Wichita Eagle
Prayers offered around Kansas - and the country - on behalf of Martin and Gracia Burnham for the past year have not stopped.
Those prayers, however, have turned to the Burnham children who lost their father a week before Father's Day, as well as to their surviving family.
Across the Wichita area this weekend, in churches large and small, the Burnhams will be remembered - during moments of silence and in full-length sermons.
Mark Hoover, pastor at Messiah Baptist...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS: WAITING FOR FINAL REUNION Tom Schaefer, The Wichita Eagle
A little more than a year after Martin and Gracia Burnham were captured by Muslim rebels in the Philippines, their long ordeal is over.
The agony of waiting by family and friends, the fervent prayers offered for their safe return, the hopes raised and dashed by reports of their possible release have also come to an end.
In a pre-dawn rescue attempt Friday by a Philippine army team, Martin was killed and Gracia was wounded. She's recovering in a Philippine...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GRIEF AND GRATITUDE Eagle staff and news reports, Contributing: Tim Potter, Beccy Tanner, Ron Sylvester, Hurst Laviana
and Stan Finger of The Eagle; Associated Press
It was an ending to a yearlong international hostage ordeal that left all who loved Martin and Gracia Burnham heartbroken, yet thankful, and in some ways relieved.
People are heartsick because Rose Hill missionary Martin Burnham will not come home. In a rainy Philippine jungle, he died Friday in a gun battle between his rebel captors and Filipino Army commandos.
But troops rescued his wife, Gracia, after she was shot in the leg.
A third hostage, Filipino nurse Deborah...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT SUGGESTS STRONGER U.S. ANTI-TERROR PUSH IN PHILIPPINES ALAN BJERGA , Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt said Martin Burnham's death Friday makes aggressive U.S. anti-terror efforts in the Philippines more important than ever.
"The way we address the loss of Martin's life is to send a message to the world," said Tiahrt, R-Goddard. "He is a victim in the war on terror, just like the victims in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
And in response, he said, the United...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MISSIONARY SHOWED 'WHAT CHRISTIANITY IS TRULY ABOUT' STAN FINGER, The Wichita Eagle
On what turned out to be his last night in America, Martin Burnham told the crowd at Rose Hill Bible Church in May 2001 that it was his responsibility to follow the will of the Lord.
"Wherever the Lord wanted him is where he should be," Ralph Burnham said, recalling the words of his nephew, a missionary with New Tribes Mission.
Those words became prophetic a day later.
Martin was whisked away to the upscale Dos Palmas Island Resort as a surprise...

Published on 2002-06-08, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HUNT FOR ABU SAYYAF ISN'T FINISHED PHILIP P. PAN, Washington Post, Contributing: Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered new troops into the jungles of the southern Philippines on Saturday to pursue and kill fleeing Abu Sayyaf rebels.
"We will forge on with tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," Arroyo said, referring to the group that held Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap hostage for more than a year.
The Philippines is not alone in its mission. Chairman of the...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FRIENDS READY TO GIVE GRACIA SUPPORT, SOLACE SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Tim Potter of The Eagle; Orlando Sentinel
Gracia Burnham visited the Philippine president Saturday, organized a picnic to say goodbye to her missionary friends, and kept repeating, "It's so good to be free."
A day after she was shot in the leg and her husband, Martin, was killed in a rescue attempt by the Philippine military, Burnham wore a red dress and sat in a wheelchair to meet Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a U.S. Embassy-owned compound in Manila.
U.S. Ambassador...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OPINION LINE
I bet if Martin and Gracia Burnham had been from New York or from an influential family on one of the coasts, they would have been home a year ago and not suffered through this tragedy.

There is a war between good and evil going on in our world. Sometimes, the good die. It's not a defeat but a victory, because they go to a better place than this world. My thoughts and prayers are with the Burnham family.
-- -- --
I want to extend my condolences...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 11A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

LETTERS TELL OF LOVE, YEARLONG CAPTIVITY JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
SIRAWAI, Philippines - Rose Hill missionary Martin Burnham wrote of love for his children and narrated his yearlong captivity in a series of letters that hint he expected to die, officials said Saturday.
Burnham, 42, and another captive, Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, were killed Friday during a rescue mission in a southern Philippine jungle that brought an end to the hostage crisis.
Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, commander of the southern Philippine forces, quoted Burnham's...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FRIENDS READY TO GIVE GRACIA SUPPORT, SOLACE SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS , The Wichita Eagle
While it is impossible to predict what life after captivity will be like for Gracia Burnham, those who know the 43-year-old missionary say she will face the future the way she always has -trusting God.
"If I know Gracia, I know she's going to lean on the source," said Kathy Ryff, a college friend and onetime roommate of Gracia's.
"She always knew what she wanted, and she knew what she believed in. She is a very solid,...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

HUNT FOR ABU SAYYAF ISN'T FINISHED PHILIP P. PAN, Washington Post
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered new troops into the jungles of the southern Philippines on Saturday to pursue and kill fleeing Abu Sayyaf rebels.
"We will forge on with tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," Arroyo said, referring to the group that held Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap hostage for more than a year.
The Philippines is not alone in its mission. Chairman of...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GRACIA BURNHAM SAYS THAT MARTIN DIED PEACEFULLY EMILY SWARTZLANDER, Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - For more than a year, missionary Gracia Burnham's husband sang her to sleep every night to keep her calm as they waited and hoped they would be rescued from Muslim extremists holding them captive in the Philippi nes.
On Saturday, Gracia's sister, Mary Jones, flew to Manila to bring her home after U.S.-trained Philippine commandos freed her in a gun battle with the rebels.
Her husband, Martin Burnham, and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap were shot...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

'I WANT TO GO OUT STRONG FOR THE LORD' TIM POTTER, The Wichita Eagle< Contributing: New York
Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Cox News Service
Questions remained Saturday about how Rose Hill hostage Martin Burnham died and how his wife, Gracia, was wounded in a rescue attempt by the Philippine military. But even if it is determined that shots fired by the Philippine military killed the 42-year-old missionary - as one senior Philippine official said Saturday - his family does not blame the soldiers.
"The family is not looking to find out the person who pulled the trigger that shot the bullet that killed...

Published on 2002-06-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SUNDAY SERVICES REFLECT ON MARTIN'S STRENGTH KAREN SHIDELER, The Wichita Eagle
As the Philippine military stepped up an attack on rebel kidnappers Sunday, Kansans celebrated the faith and life of Martin Burnham, one of the kidnappe rs' hostages.
At Rose Hill Bible Church, Ralph Burnham Jr., Martin's uncle, recalled the gathering Martin had led there his last night in the United States.
"Follow thou me," Ralph Burnham read, quoting Jesus' words in John 21, the passage Martin had used in his...

Published on 2002-06-10, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GRACIA HEADS HOME WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press, Contributing: Ron Sylvester of The Eagle; Los Angeles Times
MANILA, Philippines
Rose Hill missionary Gracia Burnham, who lost her husband and a year of her life as a hostage in the jungle, left the Philippines on Sunday night to meet her three children today in Kansas, sometimes smiling and once near tears after her yearlong ordeal at the hands of Muslim extremist kidnappers.
In comments at the airport before her departure, Burnham, her voice often cracking, delivered harsh words for her captors and praised her rescuers and...

Published on 2002-06-10, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM LATEST VICTIM OF TERRORISMMourn the death of the Florida-based missionary in the Philippines on Friday, but give thanks that commandos successfully rescued the victim's wife from the terrorists who kidnapped the couple more than a year ago.
Even though Martin Burnham and another hostage were killed during the rescue, the mission was a success. It saved Gracia Burnham and killed vicious terrorists who had a reputation for beheading innocent people. The worldwide war against terrorism is not...

Published on 2002-06-11, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TALKS, LETTERS OUTLINE ABU SAYYAF'S TROUBLES PHILIP P. PAN, Washington Post
MANILA - Ever since the January arrival of U.S. troops to train and advise Philippine soldiers hunting for Abu Sayyaf, the Muslim rebel group has been on the defensive, unable to stage new kidnappings and forced to split into smaller, more mobile groups hiding in the jungle, Philippine and U.S. military officials say.
But statements made by Gracia Burnham, the only hostage to survive Friday's rescue attempt, and information gleaned from letters written by her husband,...

Published on 2002-06-11, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EMBRACED BY FAMILY AND BY WELL-WISHERS ALEX BRANCH AND STEVE PAINTER, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Gracia Burnham was reunited with her children Monday and received a hero's welcome in Rose Hill as she completed her journey home from the Philippines jungle.
More than a thousand well-wishers holding candles and signs lined the road leading into Rose Hill as she arrived at 9 p.m.
Visible in her bright red shirt even at dusk, Gracia Burnham waved from her wheelchair outside the home of Paul and Oreta Burnham, her in-laws.
...

Published on 2002-06-11, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWS Readers
Martin and Gracia
I want to thank Jeff, Zach and Mindy Burnham for the wonderful things that their parents, Martin and Gracia Burnham, have done for the Filipino people through the New Tribes Mission.
On behalf of the majority of the Filipino people who loved your parents and prayed for them, I offer my condolences and sympathy ("Grief and gratitude," June 8 Eagle). We Filipinos mourn with you and are very saddened by the loss of your loved one. He is...

Published on 2002-06-11, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEF Compiled by Eagle staff reports
Gracia Burnham rests, surrounded by her loved ones
Surrounded by family and friends, Gracia Burnham spent Tuesday resting at her in-laws' home in Rose Hill.
Purple and yellow balloons still decorated the front yard. Flowers and plants given by friends and family lined the porch.
Children played in the front yard as the adults tried to round them up for a trip to the swimming pool.
Relatives and their children have flocked to the home to visit Gracia,...

Published on 2002-06-12, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS ARE GREAT ROLE MODELS Cal Thomas, Tribune Media Services
Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, like thousands of other missionaries around the world and millions since the time of Christ, gave up the comforts of home and careers that could earn them money and prestige. They committed their lives to helping the less fortunate and sharing what Christia ns call the "good news" of salvation through Jesus Christ and the promise of a home in heaven.
In a significant way, the Burnhams and the many others who...

Published on 2002-06-12, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ARROYO TOURS ISLANDS THAT HARBOR GUERRILLAS JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
LAMITAN, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saluted troops who rescued Rose Hill missionary Gracia Burnham and mourned the deaths of hostages Martin Burnham and Deborah Yap during a tour Tuesday through southern islands terrorized by Muslim guerrillas.
Scores of soldiers patrolled the streets, and two tanks guarded the Roman Catholic school where the Philippine leader met with military and local officials in this town on Basilan island - a base for the Abu Sayyaf...

Published on 2002-06-12, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ARROYO RAISES FLAG OVER HARD-FOUGHT GROUND JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
LAMITAN, Philippines - Guarded by snipers on rooftops, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo raised the Philippine flag Wednesday in a southern town that was once the scene of bloody gun battles with hostage-taking rebels.
The Independence Day ceremony outside Lamitan's town hall - pockmarked from the firefights last year - was part of the government's campaign to show it is winning the war against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
Arroyo made no comments as she...

Published on 2002-06-13, Page 7A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OKLAHOMA MAN'S POEM TOUCHES BURNHAM FAMILY ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle
Amid the stacks of greeting cards and kind notes that have flowed into Rose Hill since Gracia Burnham's return, one - a poem written by someone she has never met - was especially touching.
After her sister-in-law read it aloud, Gracia Burnham and her 12-year-old daughter, Mindy, hugged and cried.
Gracia Burnham was so moved she asked The Wichita Eagle to publish the poem, "Final Score," for everyone who supported her and her husband, Martin...

Published on 2002-06-13, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

OPINION LINE callers

No one should question the rescue efforts made by the Philippine and U.S. militaries in trying to save Martin and Gracia Burnham. Unless you have been in a jungle, you have no idea of what it takes to find and rescue people.

The Philippine military is second-rate at best. It never should have been allowed to go in after the Burnhams without U.S. supervision and help.
-- -- --
The government shouldn't be expected to rescue citizens who...

Published on 2002-06-13, Page 11A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

READER VIEWS Readers
Muslim sympathy
As an American Muslim, I would like to express my sadness and outrage over what Gracia Burnham and her family have had to go through.
Let there be no mistake: These people who have been inflicting misery on so many others are not accepted by Islam, nor by any sane Muslim.
The Abu Sayyaf group and other terrorist groups violate every tenet of Islam and are rejected by the mainstream. Muslims the world over will celebrat e the day groups like theirs are...

Published on 2002-06-13, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MOURNERS REMEMBER MARTIN BURNHAM ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Alan Bjerga of The Eagle, Associated Press.
Friends, relatives and strangers paid their respects to slain missionary Martin Burnham Thursday as his family prepared to lay him to rest today.
A steady flow of visitors filed past Martin Burnham's open casket and a television showing photos of his life during a public visitation at Smith Mortuary in Derby.
Martin's parents and siblings, and his wife, Gracia Burnham, still in a wheelchair recovering from a bullet wound to the leg, greeted mourners as...

Published on 2002-06-14, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AMERICANS TAKE PART IN FUNERAL FOR FILIPINO NURSE JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
LAMITAN, Philippines - Four U.S. soldiers in camouflage carried a white wooden coffin to a grave Friday, laying to rest a Filipino nurse who was killed along with Martin Burnham in a rescue attempt after being held hostage for a year by Muslim extremist kidnappers.
Deborah Yap was killed in a gun battle a week ago when Filipino soldiers ambushed her kidnappers.
Yap was buried beside the tomb of Spanish missionary Jose Maria Torres, who founded Lamitan's hospital...

Published on 2002-06-15, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

THOUSANDS MOURN ROSE HILL MISSIONARY ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle, Contributing: Julie Mah of The Eagle
Every night, as he was being handcuffed to a tree deep in the Philippine jungle, Martin Burnham would look his armed captors in the eye and say, "Thank you very much."
Then the missionary would wish them good night.
He did this, his wife told friends, because he was determined to stay joyous during the most trying time of his life.
So friends and relatives of the slain Rose Hill native followed Martin Burnham's lead Friday, staying...

Published on 2002-06-15, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS - For the board, Randy Scholfield
The Burnhams have touched a chord in people across America, as witnessed by the many letters to the editor The Eagle has been receiving from across the country and by the hundreds who attended Martin Burnham's memorial service Friday.
Because their yearlong captivity in the Philippines was marked by brutality and deprivation, and because it ended in Martin's death, it's tempting to call their story a tragedy and to label the Burnhams...

Published on 2002-06-16, Page 10A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GUN BATTLES IN PHILIPPINES KILL THREE ABU SAYYAF Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - At least three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and one government soldier died in separate clashes in the southern Philippines on Sunday, the military said.
Philippine elite troops encountered about 30 members of Abu Sayyaf - the Muslim extremist group that kidnapped Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham - outside a town on Basilan at midday. The gun battle lasted for about two hours before the guerrillas escaped into the jungle, leaving one body behind, Col....

Published on 2002-06-17, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RETHINK U.S.-PHILIPPINE OPERATIONThe campaign against the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf is making at least some gains. Gracia Burnham is alive. While American soldiers are prevented from fighting, the training and high-tech weapons they have given their Filipino counterparts will help fight terrorism in the Philippines in the future. The terrorists no longer hold hostages as a shield.
But Abu Sayyaf leaders are still on the loose, and the American soldiers are scheduled to depart next month. Another hostage crisis could...

Published on 2002-06-17, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S., FILIPINO FORCES FIRE BACK AT ASSAILANTS MATT KELLEY, Associated Press, Contributing: Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - U.S. Marines in the southern Philippines fired at assailants who had shot at them Monday in the first combat American troops have seen in five months of anti-terrorism training, the Pentagon said.
Two Marines and several Filipino soldiers fired back when they were shot at near a U.S. Navy construction project, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. U.S. officials think some of the attackers were wounded or killed.
The fight happened on the island of...

Published on 2002-06-18, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GUNSHOT IN BACK KILLED BURNHAM, REPORT SAYS ADAM BROWN, Associated Press, Contributing: Los Angeles Times
MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine military report released Monday said soldiers used extreme caution on a mission to rescue Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, who were held hostage for more than a year by Muslim extremists.
Elite Philippine troops ambushed rebels of the Abu Sayyaf group June 7 in the southern Philippines. Martin Burnham and Yap were killed in the ensuing shootout. Gracia Burnham was shot in the right thigh but...

Published on 2002-06-18, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES RESCUE WAS IN WORKS FOR MONTHS CARMELA CRUZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The military operation to rescue Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap from Muslim extremists took six months to plan, according to a government report.
The Philippine report left open questions about who fired the shots that killed Martin Burnham and Deborah Yap.
National Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Melchor Rosales said Tuesday that Philippine Scout Ranger troops fired the first shots during the June 7 raid on Abu...

Published on 2002-06-19, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TIAHRT SEEKS POLICY REVIEW ON HOSTAGES LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, asked Thursday for congressional hearings into the U.S. government's policy when its citizens are kidnapped abroad.
Two weeks ago, the captivity of Kansas missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham ended with a gunfight in the Philippine jungle that killed Martin Burnham and injured his wife. A third hostage, Filipino nurse Deborah Yap, also died.
"I have concerns about the safety of Americans as they travel and...

Published on 2002-06-21, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

TOP ABU SAYYAF LEADER THOUGHT KILLED OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A top Abu Sayyaf leader linked to the kidnappings of Kansas missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and scores of other people was thought to have been killed in a firefight with government troops early today, military sources said.
Abu Sabaya was the most visible of the extremist group's commanders, often calling local media with demands and statements taunting the government. The military said it had been hot on his trail after a June 7 rescue...

Published on 2002-06-21, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

No Headline Richard C. Paddock and John Hendren, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - Philippine fishermen and soldiers searched early today off the coast of Mindanao island for the body of rebel leader Abu Sabaya, who was reported killed Friday in a gun battle with Philippine commandos.
their deployment of more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers in the Philippines to train The Philippine government announced a reward of $1,000 for the recovery of thought killed during the early morning clash.
Philippine military officials acknowledged that the body - and...

Published on 2002-06-22, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINES AWARDS SOLDIERS FOR GUNFIGHT OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine military awarded medals Saturday to U.S.-trained troops involved in a gun battle with the leader of the extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels, whose still-missing body now has a $1,000 bounty on it.
Abu Sabaya, the notorious leader and spokesman for the rebels who kidnapped Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, was thought to have been killed with two of his men in a brief gun battle Friday off Mindanao island.
The military said the men were...

Published on 2002-06-23, Page 12A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

COMMANDER: REBELS SHOT MARTIN BURNHAM OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - A Philippine military commander showed reporters Sunday a videotape of two Abu Sayyaf guerrillas being interrogated. Both men, who were captured in Friday's gun battle, claimed they saw their leader, Abu Sabaya, fall into the sea after being hit by gunfire off Mindanao island.
Sabaya spearheaded the kidnapping last year of 17 Filipinos and three Americans, including Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Under interrogation, one...

Published on 2002-06-24, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

CHILDREN AND GRACIA MAKE UP FOR A YEAR APART ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Sometimes at night, Gracia Burnham's children sleep on blankets spread on the floor of her bedroom.
After a year worrying that they may never see her again, and after the death of their father, they just want to be together.
They spend their days with their mom, talking over lunch at a nearby Sonic or in the living room of the grandparent's house.
Despite the constant stream of international media requests from reporters eager to...

Published on 2002-06-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

DEATH IS FINAL TESTAMENT TO HOW YOU HAVE LIVED HELEN T. GRAY, The Kansas City Star
After Martin Burnham was killed while held captive in the Philippines, his wife, Gracia, said: "He died well."
Before two monks were killed by a gunman in their Conception, Mo., monastery, one of them had written: "To accept death lovingly, trusting in God - this is our final obedience." They, too, died well.
What does it mean to "die well" or to have a "good" death?
...

Published on 2002-06-29, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PROTECTING AMERICANS ABROAD: A TRICKY TOPIC ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - The U.S. is fighting a war on terrorism in part to make Americans safer.
But U.S. military action has also stirred up anger that makes U.S. citizens traveling overseas more desirable targets for terrorists than ever before.
As America flexes its might more forcefully across the globe, government officials and policymakers must figure out the limits to that power.
For example, Philippine officials welcomed U.S. soldiers into their country but made it clear that...

Published on 2002-06-30, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GUILE, SCIENCE THWART ABU SAYYAF JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Two major operations against Abu Sayyaf rebels were a combined triumph of American technology and local intelligence in the anti-ter rorism fight, Philippine military officials said Wednesday.
U.S.-provided tracking devices implanted in a backpack and boat used by the Muslim extremists helped in the rescue of Gracia Burnham, from Rose Hill, and later in the apparent death of a rebel leader, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Pressured by U.S.-backed...

Published on 2002-07-04, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ROSE HILL RALLIES AROUND GRACIA ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Gracia Burnham has said she wanted to call Rose Hill home, so folks in this small city are going to build her one.
"I kind of picture the whole community pitching in like at one of those old barn raisings," said Steve McRae, who is organizing the effort.
McRae and others are in the early stages of recruiting handymen, contract ors or just Good Samaritans to volunteer to help build Gracia and her three children a comfortable...

Published on 2002-07-11, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MANY HAVE SIGNED UP, BUT MORE HELP NEEDED TO BUILD BURNHAM HOME ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - One of the first to volunteer was a man offering to do the excavation work on Gracia Burnham's new home.
Then a couple of men called wanting to put in the heating and air. Then a woman volunteering to make stained-glass windows - if Gracia wanted them.
By Friday evening, Steve McRae had gotten 50 e-mails and more than a dozen phone calls from people who wanted to help build Gracia Burnham and her children a home. Counting church groups, almost 100 people are...

Published on 2002-07-15, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM FAMILY IS LIKELY TO VISIT PRESIDENT BUSH ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham will likely visit with President Bush next week during a trip to Washington.
The president has asked to meet Burnham and her children at the White House while they visit the nation's capital for five days.
Though the timing hasn't been worked out, "we feel pretty confident they'll meet one day next week," said Chuck Knapp, spokesman for Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt.
The trip will punctuate a whirlwind...

Published on 2002-07-19, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFGracia Burnham set to meet Bush on Wednesday
WASHINGTON - Gracia Burnham is scheduled to meet with President Bush Wednesday in the Oval Office, said Rep. Todd Tiahrt spokesman Chuck Knapp.
Burnham will be in Washington next week to meet with the president, Tiahrt and others, Knapp said. Burnham returned to Rose Hill last month after more than a year as a hostage in the Philippines. Her husband, Martin, was killed in a rescue attempt.
- Alan Bjerga
Wichitan could face...

Published on 2002-07-20, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM TO WRITE BOOK ABOUT ORDEAL ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Gracia Burnham, who is traveling with her family in Washington this week, announced Monday that she intends to write a book about her experiences in the Philippines.
Burnham will tell about her time with her late husband as a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf in a book to be published by Tyndale House Publishers in the spring of 2003, according to Nancy Guthrie, who is handling Burnham's media relation s.
Burnham was freed by Philippine soldiers in a June rescue...

Published on 2002-07-23, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. CHARGES 5 ABU SAYYAF WITH KILLINGS GWYNETH K. SHAW, Orlando Sentinel
WASHINGTON - Five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group were indicted Tuesday in Washington in connection with the killings of three hostages in the Philippines, including Martin Burnham, the Rose Hill missionary shot during a chaotic rescue operation last month.
The five men are charged with conspiracy resulting in death, hostage-taking and three counts of hostage-taking resulting in death, Assistant Attorney General Larry Thompson said. The indictment was returned by a Washington...

Published on 2002-07-24, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

NOW, HOME LIFE BECKONS ALAN BJERGA, Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Gracia Burnham said meeting the president Wednesday was "wonderful."
But she's ready to come back to Kansas and stay awhile.
"My mission is going to be to raise three neat kids," she said. "They need a full-time parent, and I'm it."
Burnham finished four days in Washington with a visit with President Bush in the Oval Office. Burnham took the trip to say thank...

Published on 2002-07-25, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. TROOPS ARE READY TO LEAVE PHILIPPINES OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Their six-month counterterrorism training exercise has helped the Philippine army weaken the Abu Sayyaf rebels, but American troops are ending their mission this week with the war against the al-Qaida -linked extremists far from finished.
An Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree is over, and the group has been decimated by clashes, arrests and surrenders. One of its top leaders is thought to have died in a firefight brought about by U.S. surveillance and technology. The...

Published on 2002-07-30, Page 2A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

MORE AID TO GO TO PHILIPPINES BRADLEY GRAHAM, Washington Post
WASHINGTON - U.S. and Philippine defense leaders agreed Monday to establish a new five-year plan for stepped-up U.S. military assistance and a senior civilian group for coordinating military policy.
In an initial foray earlier this year, the United States dispatched almost 1,300 soldiers to the southern Philippines to provide counterterrorism training aimed at wiping out the militant Muslim group Abu Sayyaf, which was holding Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage....

Published on 2002-08-13, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS HUMBLED BY GIFT OF NEW HOME ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - When Martin Burnham was a child, his favorite camping spot was a grassy field behind his parents' house.
Soon, the slain missionary's wife, Gracia, and their three children will have a home nearby, thanks to volunteers who will begin construction next week.
"We are humbled by this gift," Gracia Burnham told a small crowd of volunteers and family Thursday at a ceremonial groundbreaking.
She and her children -...

Published on 2002-08-30, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ISLAM IN AMERICA ONE YEAR LATER ABE LEVY, The Wichita Eagle
Duane Stone watched the second airliner slam into the World Trade Center on TV and headed straight for Tillie's Flower Shop in Wichita. Within the hour, he was in front of the Muslim Community Center, handing a dozen roses to the first Muslim he saw, Ayman Lpiza, a total stranger.
They wept, arms on each other's shoulders.
"It was as if he was giving me a million dollars," said Lpiza, a Syrian-born Muslim. "It was an...

Published on 2002-09-07, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED PATRICK MAY, Knight Ridder Newspapers
One year after terrorists splintered this nation's sense of security, Sept. 11 continues to affect Americans on a profound and personal level, a Knight Ridder poll has found.
The nationwide survey shows that some fears spawned by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have eased. Only about one-sixth of Americans - down from nearly half in the months just after Sept. 11 - continue to suffer adverse psychological effects.
But a strong majority of...

Published on 2002-09-08, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ELDER BURNHAMS HEADING HOME TO THE PHILIPPINES ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL
The story of the last 18 months of Paul and Oreta Burnham's lives is told by the photographs on the walls and end tables: Their son Martin and his wife, Gracia - together, healthy and smiling. Their three children playing soccer and football in Rose Hill where they were sent after their parents were abducted in the Philippines.
The Burnham family with President Bush in the Oval Office months after Martin was killed and Gracia was rescued.
When Paul...

Published on 2002-11-14, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. MILITARY MAY GO BACK TO PHILIPPINES ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times
WASHINGTON - The United States and the Philippines may soon start a new military training operation against Muslim extremists in the southern Philippi nes that would involve 300 to 400 American soldiers, including many on jungle combat patrols in a risky hunt for Abu Sayyaf, a resurgent guerrilla force, military officials say.
The proposed exercise, which could begin as soon as January, reflects the Pentagon's growing concern that militant Islamic networks pose an...

Published on 2002-12-01, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

GRACIA BURNHAM THANKS SUPPORTERS IN NEW VIDEOTAPE Associated Press
SANFORD, Fla. -The wife of Martin Burnham, the American missionary killed during an attempt to free him from rebels in the Philippines, has released a short video to thank supporters.
Gracia Burnham, who was held captive with her husband, released the video through a publishing company. It offers the first glimpse of the life she is now leading in Rose Hill, where she lives with her three children.
"I just would like everyone to know that's watching...

Published on 2002-12-03, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

SUSPECT IN BURNHAM KIDNAP CAPTURED Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Philippine soldiers captured an extremist allegedly involved in the kidnapping and beheading of an American hostage last year, an army commander said today.
Abu Baidar, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf group, was captured Friday in a remote village of Lamitan on southern Basilan island after residents tipped off the military, Basilan army commander Col. Bonifacio Ramos said.
Ramos said Baidar is suspected of participating in the raid on the Dos Palmas...

Published on 2002-12-07, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM HOUSE IS NEARLY FINISHED LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - After five months of help from more than 300 workers and nearly 100 companies, the house that volunteers built for missionary Gracia Burnham and her family is almost complete.
"I thank everybody for the incredible house they built," Burnham said Wednesday. Burnham and her three children are expected to begin moving in Monday.
The home features oak floors, two fireplaces, a built-in curio cabinet and a stained-glass window depicting a cross,...

Published on 2003-01-16, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAMS START MOVE INTO THEIR NEW HOME LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Friends and relatives of Gracia Burnham formed a line Monday morning outside the front door of the home volunteers built for her family.
About five months after work began, it was moving day, and volunteers waited their turn to ask Burnham, who stood inside, where to place a box, a suitcase or a bag of clothing.
Burnham and her three children will continue living in their rental home in Rose Hill until they are ready to move into the new ranch-style home. She...

Published on 2003-01-21, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

U.S. FORCES TO ASSUME ACTIVE PHILIPPINES ROLE ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times, Contributing: Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The United States will send nearly 2,000 soldiers to the Philippines in the next few weeks to fight Muslim extremists in the southern part of the country, opening a new front in the fight against terrorism, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
A six-month training mission in the Philippines last year limited 1,300 U.S. soldiers, including 160 Special Operations soldiers, to an advisory role and permitted them to fire only in self-defense. But this mission will be a combat...

Published on 2003-02-21, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AREA NEWS IN BRIEFGracia Burnham adds two days to open house
ROSE HILL - Gracia Burnham has extended the dates of her open house this weekend to include Friday and Saturday.
The more than 300 people and nearly 100 companies who collaborated to build her 1,700-square-foot house are invited.
Burnham, the wife of slain missionary Martin Burnham, and their three children live in the house.
The hours will be:
-- 4 to 7 p.m. Friday.
-- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
2 to...

Published on 2003-02-25, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS VIEW BURNHAM HOME LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Brenda Simpson had never met her neighbor Gracia Burnham. But when she found a flier inviting her to an open house this weekend, Simpson grabbed a friend Friday afternoon and headed over.
Simpson signed her name in the guest book and introduced herself to Burnham, who greeted her with a hug.
"You're very kind to come," Burnham said. "I'm getting excited about meeting my neighbors. Stop by any...

Published on 2003-03-01, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE AIRPORT BOMBING KILLS 21 OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - A bomb planted inside a backpack ripped through an airport terminal in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, killing at least 21 people - including an American missionary - and injuring 145 in this nation's worst terrorist attack in three years.
The blast comes at a time of heightened debate over the role of U.S. troops in the war on terror in the Philippines, where Muslim rebel groups have battled the government for decades with attacks, bombings and...

Published on 2003-03-05, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM DONE WITH BOOK ON HOSTAGE ORDEAL ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham's book is done but won't hit bookstores for another month.
Burnham's agent sent advance copies of the book, titled "In the Presence of My Enemies," to the media this week.
The cover picture shows a beleaguered Martin and Gracia Burnham surrounded by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists who held them hostage in the Philippines for more than a year.
A promotional blurb calls it "a gripping...

Published on 2003-04-17, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM TO MAKE MANY MEDIA STOPS - Abe Levy
Gracia Burnham has begun to appear on national television programs, talking about the experiences she and her late husband, Martin, endured as hostages in the Philippines in 2001 and 2002.
In addition, stories about her will be published in various magazines in the coming months.
An interview with Burnham will appear in The Eagle on Sunday, and excerpts of her book will appear the following week.
Here is a partial list of coming TV shows and articles, according to...

Published on 2003-05-06, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM PLANS GIFT TO ROSE HILL LORI O'TOOLE BUSELT, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Gracia Burnham expects to sell 1,000 signed copies of her book "In the Presence of My Enemies" Saturday and donate the proceeds to the city of Rose Hill.
"It's primarily Gracia's way to say thank you to that city," said her publicist, Nancy Guthrie.
The city will first buy 14 flags and 28 red-white-and-blue banners for about $2,500, Mark Detter, Rose Hill city administrator, said. They will...

Published on 2003-05-09, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

IN GRACIA'S WORDS ABE LEVY, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham has caught the world's attention again with the release of her book, "In the Pre-sence of My Enemies." The Rose Hill resident recounts her experience during the year and 11 days she and her late husband, Martin, were held hostage by militant Muslims in the Philippines.
Their experiences, which claimed Martin's life and threatened Gracia's, have been featured recently on national media broadcasts and in...

Published on 2003-05-10, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

'PRESENCE' A GRAPHIC TALE OF WIFE AND MISSIONARY ABE LEVY, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham told her co-author, Dean Merrill, that she might have trouble recalling some of the details about her experience as a hostage in the Philippines.
But as Merrill interviewed her for her book, "In the Presence of my Enemies," the details began to flow.
Those details - and a brutal honesty from Gracia - make the book compelling.
And for Kansans who followed the family's saga - before the Sept. 11 attacks enlarged the...

Published on 2003-05-10, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

A NEW MISSION ALEX BRANCH, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL
The simplest things whisk Gracia Burnham back to the jungle. Most recently , it was picking up her daughter Mindy's backpack. She felt the weight on her shoulder and, suddenly, she was back - back in the humidity, lugging her backpack up a mountain, her armed captors ordering "Faster! . . . Faster!"
Just as quickly, she comes home.
"I told myself, 'You don't have to carry this up a...

Published on 2003-05-11, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

EXCERPTS FROM 'IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES'The Eagle has been given exclusive rights among media in Kansas to reprint excerpts from "In the Presence of My Enemies," co-written by Gracia Burnham and Dean Merrill.
In the book, Burnham tells the story of the 2001 capture of her and her husband, Martin, by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines and her rescue a year later.
Chapter 1: "Seized at Dawn"
Gracia and Martin Burnham are on the terrorists' boat...

Published on 2003-05-17, Page 1F, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM BOOK SPURS VISIT FROM FILIPINO OFFICIAL Associated Press
A senior Philippine justice official questioned Gracia Burnham in Rose Hill this week about an account in her book that a Philippine general colluded with her captors, officials said Friday.
Burnham's account of the "wheeling and dealing" between Abu Sayyaf guerrill as and an unidentified general in the southern Philippines - where she, her husband and other hostages were held for 377 days - caused a stir in the Philippines and renewed calls for...

Published on 2003-05-31, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PUSH TO HELP PHILIPPINES IS NOT OVER FOR TIAHRTWASHINGTON
One year after the death of Martin Burnham and the rescue of Martin's wife, Gracia, Rep. Todd Tiahrt is still playing a role in U.S. policy toward the Philippines.
He hasn't made headway in holding hearings on a U.S. hostage policy, which he called for after the Burnham crisis ended last June. But he has had success in getting financial aid to the island nation.
His activity is one of the many lasting legacies the Burnhams have left...

Published on 2003-06-08, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM WILL CO-WRITE A MORE REFLECTIVE BOOK ABE LEVY, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill - who was captured by terrorists while in the Philippines two years ago - is co-writing a new book of reflections on her life, a spokeswoman for her publisher said.
The manuscript for the new book has a June deadline. It will likely be a year before the book is released, said Nancy Clausen of Tyndale House Publishe rs.
Burnham could not be reached for comment.
Dean Merrill, who co-wrote Burnham's first book, "In the...

Published on 2004-02-12, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

ON A FAMILY MISSIONPAUL, ORETA BURNHAM SAY GOODBYE TO PHILIPPINES SARAH BAHARI, The Wichita Eagle
Paul and Oreta Burnham sorted through 30 years of memories, said goodbye to friends and bid farewell to a country and careers they loved. Then they got on a plane and came home.
The couple - parents of slain missionary Martin Burnham - arrived in Wichita on Wednesday afternoon after a 24-hour flight from the Philippines, where they worked as missionaries.
Armed with colorful "Welcome Home" signs, about 30 family members and church friends greeted the...

Published on 2004-02-26, Page 1B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS KILL REBEL WANTED BY U.S. Associated Press
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Six members of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including a senior leader wanted by the United States, were killed in a clash Thursday with Philippine troops on southern Basilan island, officials said.
Hamsiraji Sali, one of five Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by Washington for the deaths of two American hostages, was among the six killed by a Scout Ranger platoon in Basilan's Isabela town, military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said.
Four...

Published on 2004-04-09, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

FILIPINOS TIE SUSPECT TO DEADLY KIDNAPPING Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops have arrested a suspected Muslim militant linked to the kidnapping three years ago of 20 Filipinos and American s a military spokesman said Thursday.
Usman Lidjal was arrested in the southern city of Zamboanga late Wednesday on suspicion of providing safe haven and support to Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who kidnapped 17 Filipinos and three Americans in May 2001, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said.
Several hostages, including American Guillermo Sobero, were...

Published on 2004-05-21, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM TO TESTIFY IN PHILIPPINES, FRIENDS SAY ROY WENZL, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham, the missionary from Rose Hill who survived abduction by terrorists in the Philippines jungle, has returned to the Philippines to testify against people involved with her kidnapping, friends said.
Burnham survived more than a year in the jungle, but saw her husband, Martin, killed during a June 2002 rescue by the Philippines army. Gracia Burnham was wounded in the leg.
The Abu Sayyaf terrorists who abducted her have been linked to al-Qaida.
She will come home...

Published on 2004-07-27, Page 3B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM RETURNS TO PHILIPPINES TO TESTIFY Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Gracia Burnham, who was held hostage by Muslim extremists for 377 days, has returned to the Philippines under tight security to testify against her abductors, officials said Tuesday.
Burnham, whose husband Martin was killed during a bloody military rescue mission on June 7, 2002, was invited to testify Thursday against her Abu Sayyaf abductors in a suburban court, prosecutors said.
Manila airport immigration chief Ferdinand Sampol said Burnham, from Rose Hill,...

Published on 2004-07-28, Page 5B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM TESTIFIES IN TRIAL IN PHILIPPINES JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Pointing to a rusty dog chain, a prosecutor asked American missionary Gracia Burnham if it was used to shackle her husband before he was killed in a bloody rescue attempt after a year of captivity in the jungle.
"I recognize that chain," Burnham testified softly Thursday at the trial of eight al-Qaida-linked guerrillas.
Burnham, 45, also recounted how her captors celebrated after the Sept. 11 attacks. "There was jubilation....

Published on 2004-07-30, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

BURNHAM LAUDED BY PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Gracia Burnham, the Kansas missionary who returned to the Philippines to testify against the Muslim rebel captors who held her and her slain husband for more than a year, said Friday she hoped her effort would help rid the country of terrorism.
Escorted by FBI agents, Burnham left Manila on a U.S.-bound flight a day after recounting in court how her captors from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group shackled her husband, Martin, before he was killed in a bloody June...

Published on 2004-07-31, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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BURNHAM: RANSOM PAID JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Rose Hill missionary Gracia Burnham, who returned to the Philippines to testify against her Muslim rebel captors, told a court last week that a ransom had been paid but the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas had still refused to free her and her husband.
Burnham testified Thursday, but because of security reasons journalists weren't allowed to monitor audio and video recordings until Monday. During 21/2 hours of testimony, she relived a yearlong nightmare in...

Published on 2004-08-03, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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BURNHAM FACED HER ABDUCTORS IN MANILA ABE LEVY, The Wichita Eagle
Gracia Burnham's first trip back to the Philippines last month left no time for visiting old friends and former colleagues in mission work.
Instead, the Rose Hill woman was a key witness in a case against eight men with the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. The men were on trial, charged with abducting her and her late husband, Martin, three years ago and holding them for more than a year.
On Friday, the men, along with nine others, were sentenced to death for abducting three...

Published on 2004-08-14, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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BURNHAM CAPTOR KILLED AS POLICE BREAK JAIL REVOLT Eagle staff and wire services
MANILA, Philippines - Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum- security jail taken over by Abu Sayyaf rebels, killing at least 17 inmates, including at least one of the men who held Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage for more than a year.
Alhamzer Manatad Limbong, also known as Kosovo, was one of the Abu Sayyaf leaders who died after leading a botched jail escape Monday.
In July 2004, Gracia Burnham traveled back to the Philippines to testify...

Published on 2005-03-15, Page 3A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

AFTER ESCAPE, BURNHAM SNEAKS BACK

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press
ROSE HILL - Disguised in a long blond wig, former hostage Gracia Burnham and her three children secretly returned to the Philippines where the family once served as missionaries.
That visit during the recent Christmas school break gave the family a "good dose of closure," Burnham said in an interview at her home.
"We didn't tell anyone here in America that we were going, and we didn't tell anyone in the Philippines that...

Published on 2005-05-01, Page 4B, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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U.S. LAUNCHES EFFORT TO CATCH ABU SAYYAF LEADER RAYMOND BONNER AND CARLOS H. CONDE, New York Times
MANILA, Philippines - American and Philippine military forces have launched a joint operation to capture the leader of Abu Sayyaf, a small terrorist group that has kidnapped scores of people, including Martin and Gracia Burnham of Rose Hill in 2001, and beheaded several, including one American, U.S. and Philippine military officials said this week.
Martin Burnham was killed in a rescue operation in 2002.
The operation is in a marshy area on the island of Mindanao, which is largely...

Published on 2005-07-23, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

VENEZUELA SUSPECTS MISSIONS OF CIA TIES NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON, Associated Press
CANO IGUANA, Venezuela - Deep in the jungle, Indians wearing loincloths and beaded necklaces gather in a hut to hear their leader question why the American missionaries who help them are being told to leave the country.
The missionaries have been here for years, offering Bible lessons, helping cure the sick and painstakingly learning the Indians' language. Now, President Hugo Chavez says their U.S.-based evangelical group has links to the CIA, and he ordered all...

Published on 2005-10-30, Page 9A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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TERRORIST CAUGHT IN PHILIPPINES OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Security forces on Saturday captured a Philippine Muslim extremist group's leader, who also was wanted by the United States for attacks against two Rose Hill missionaries and other Americans, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced.
In a statement on government television, Arroyo congratulated police and soldiers for catching Radulan Sahiron, describing him as "a very notorious leader" of the Abu Sayyaf militant...

Published on 2005-11-06, Page 8A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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MISSIONARIES' GOALS ARE PUREIt was good to see my friend Steve Bove's picture in The Wichita Eagle, but I was saddened to read about New Tribes Mission's possible expulsion from Venezuela ("Venezuela suspects missions of CIA ties," Oct. 30 Eagle). Steve and his wife, Marilyn, were in missionary training with my husband and I back in the early '80s. They have been living and working in the jungles of Venezuela ever since.
It has always been the goal...

Published on 2005-11-06, Page 14A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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CAPTURED TERRORIST LEADER TURNS OUT TO BE LOOK-ALIKE Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine police chief said Sunday that an arrested man whom President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo tagged as a top Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist leader was not the rebel and apologized for the mistaken arrest.
The Abu Sayyaf extremist is wanted by the United States for attacks against Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and other Americans.
An ecstatic Arroyo announced on government television Saturday that Radulan Sahiron, a one-armed commander of...

Published on 2005-11-07, Page 6A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

RINGLEADER IN BURNHAM ORDEAL KILLED IN FIREFIGHT STAN FINGER, The Wichita Eagle
When the phone rang in Gracia Burnham's home in Rose Hill early Wednesday morning, she thought it was a friend calling to wish her a happy birthday.
It turned out to be much bigger than that: official word that Jainal Antel Sali Jr., popularly known as Abu Sulaiman - a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, which has links to al-Qaida - was killed in a gunbattle Tuesday with army special forces in the Philippines.
Sulaiman, 41, was the mastermind behind the kidnapping...

Published on 2007-01-18, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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VICTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES OLIVER TEVES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANILA, Philippines - DNA tests confirmed the death of the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group that was responsible for the beheading of a California tourist and the kidnapping of Rose Hill missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, officials said Saturday.
The Abu Sayyaf leader, Khadaffy Janjalani, was killed in September in fighting with U.S.-backed Philippine troops, who also killed Janjalani's possible successor in an operation on Tuesday.
The...

Published on 2007-01-21, Page 5A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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PHILIPPINES SENTENCES BURNHAM ABDUCTORS TO LIFE JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines - Fourteen al-Qaida-linked Muslim militants were sentenced to life in prison Thursday for kidnapping a Kansas missionary couple and 18 others, beginning a yearlong jungle ordeal that prompted U.S.-backed offensives against the guerrillas.
Gracia Burnham survived, but her husband, Martin, was killed during a military rescue in 2002. Another American captive, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., had been beheaded earlier by the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
The rescue operation...

Published on 2007-12-07, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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MISSIONARY WORK CALLS BURNHAMS' CHILDREN ROY WENZL, The Wichita Eagle
She never pushed for it, Gracia Burnham said.
But two of her three children are heading toward missionary work, following in the footsteps of their father.
In the five years since their father died, the younger Burnhams have been told by many people that their father was a hero, Gracia Burnham said. That's probably a title justified by the facts, she said.
But her children have never forgotten that the real lesson from their father's life is not...
Published on 2007-12-09, Page 4A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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BURNHAM SHARES LESSONS OF CAPTIVITY ROY WENZL, The Wichita Eagle
ROSE HILL - Once again this week, there was news from the Philippines: 14 Abu Sayyaf terrorists sent to prison for life.

So once again, FBI agents called a widow in Rose Hill to give the news. Once again, Filipino reporters called.

News people came to her door.

Gracia Burnham answered it dressed in a sweater and faded jeans, looking younger than 48 - much younger than the haggard, starving, kidnapped, terrifie d missionary in a photo from five years ago. She looks old in the...
Published on 2007-12-09, Page 1A, Wichita Eagle, The (KS)

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StevenWarRan

Thursday, July 24, 2014

November 14, 2001, The Manila Times, 'Secret marshals' deployed in Metro,

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