"MANILA — A US missionary who was abducted by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen in the Philippines three years ago, and whose husband was killed in the operation that freed her, broke down in court as she identified four of her kidnappers.
Gracia Burnham, 45, wept as she described her ordeal and the killing of her husband Martin, who was shot dead in a fight between her captors and security forces in June 2002, 376 days after she was captured with 18 other people.
Burnham returned to the Philippines this week for the court case in her first known visit to the country since she was freed.
She was escorted by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents into a heavily-secured special court inside a police camp in Bicutan and immediately took the witness stand, court officials said.
She identified four of eight men, all suspected of being members of the Islamic Abu Sayyaf group, as among her kidnappers, defense lawyer Oliver Lozano told reporters outside the compound, which was closed off to the media.
“She could not identify three others,” Lozano said. He gave no details about the eighth defendant.
“She cried when she recounted her feelings over the death of her husband,” Lozano said.
Burnham and her husband Martin, also a Christian missionary, were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary on a small resort island in Palawan when they were abducted in May 2001.
The militants also seized 17 others — tourists and workers — and took them by boat to Basilan.
The Filipinos were either ransomed off or escaped in batches; a third American, Peru-born Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded.
The Philippines military mounted a rescue operation soon after the kidnappers fled with their hostages to Mindanao, using electronic surveillance to track their movements.
They struck on June 6, 2002, when the militants had only three captives left. Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse, abducted from a Basilan hospital, were shot dead.
One of those identified by Gracia Burnham was Alhamser Manatad Limbong, whom government prosecutors allege beheaded Sobero.
In a book about her ordeal, Burnham said Limbong, alias Kosovo, had been her guard while she was in captivity. Limbong’s lawyer said his client was innocent and it was a case of “mistaken identity.”
Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said Burnham’s testimony would boost the case against the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of self-styled Islamic militants the United States and Philippine governments consider as terrorists.
Philippine authorities allege the group was set up in the early 1990s with seed funds from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“We are happy with the arrival of Mrs. Burnham,” Gutierrez said. “If she agrees to stay longer, she might also want to take the opportunity to meet with some of the former hostages.”
“Definitely the testimony of Gracia Burnham will strengthen our case against those Abu Sayyaf members who were involved,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.
He said though he hoped she would clear the name of the Philippine military, which she accused in her book of colluding with the rebels and giving them food.
Burnham wrote that an Army general was “wheeling and dealing” with the rebels in the hope of getting a share of the ransom. The military has denied the allegation. (MNS)"