Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Letters, Belongings of American Hostages in Philippines Found

Aired February 07, 2002 - 06:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Reporting this story from Zamboanga City in the Philippines is CNN's Maria Ressa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the second Marine brigade passed (ph) with wiping out the Abu Sayyaf and rescuing their three hostages, Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino Deborah Yap. For nearly nine months these men have scoured the jungles of Basilan, sometimes they come close, but not close enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe ...

RESSA: Last week they found these: Clothes, books, and letters belonging to the Burnhams. This card dated December 9 shows the couple received packages while held hostage, and this letter from Martin and Gracia show they can also get letters out through mercenaries and envoys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have ...

RESSA: It's written one day after Gracia's sister Mary Jones broadcast an appeal on local radio to the Abu Sayyaf. In the letter, Gracia asks her sister to keep the message confidential and not show it to the military. She writes, "We are caught in the middle. The Abu Sayyaf will not let us go without ransom. The government says no ransom. To be honest, we do not want to be rescued as they come in shooting at us. If someone can't give, somewhere, we will die."

At the Marine headquarters officers have a sheaf of letters from the Abu Sayyaf demanding ransom for hostages they have held, most addressed to family members. For Deborah Yap, the asking price is $20,000. For Martin and Gracia, $1 million each.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That's the way I see it, says this Marine. They're after the ransom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

RESSA: In 2000, officials estimate the Abu Sayyaf received nearly $20 million in ransom. Because so many locals fed off the ransom money, few are eager to help the military. Here are the victims of that greed - Martin and Gracia Burnham before May 27. This is what they looked like a little more than two months ago. You talk to anyone here and they'll tell you, in the past hostages paid ransom and got away safely. Now those old arrangements are complicated by the war on terror. On the line, the lives of the Burnhams and Deborah Yap.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Zamboanga City, the Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com