Editing Abu Sayyaf (section)

=====Martin and Gracia Burnham=====
{{See also|Dos Palmas kidnappings}}
On May 27, 2001, an Abu Sayyaf raid kidnapped about 20 people from Dos Palmas, an expensive resort in Honda Bay, taking them to the north of [[Puerto Princesa City]] on the island of [[Palawan]], which had been "considered completely safe". The most "valuable" hostages were three North Americans, Martin and Gracia Burnham, a [[missionary]] couple, and Guillermo Sobero, a Peruvian-American tourist who was later [[Decapitation|beheaded]], following a $1&nbsp;million [[ransom]] demand.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nery |first=John |date=December 6, 2008 |title=Newsstand: Gracia's enemies |url=http://newsstand.blogs.com/newsstand/2007/01/turns_out_abu_s.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206072229/http://newsstand.blogs.com/newsstand/2007/01/turns_out_abu_s.html |archive-date=December 6, 2008}}</ref> The hostages and hostage-takers then returned to Abu Sayyaf territories in Mindanao.<ref name=Bowden2007p54>"Manhunt" by Mark Bowden, ''The Atlantic'', March 2007, p.54 (15)</ref><ref name="Bowden">{{Cite web |last=Bowden |first=Mark |date=2007-03-01 |title=Jihadists in Paradise |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/03/jihadists-in-paradise/305613/ |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> According to Bowden, the leader of the raid was Abu Sabaya. According to [[Gracia Burnham]], she told her husband "to identify his kidnappers" to authorities "as 'the Osama bin Laden Group,' but Burnham was unfamiliar with that name and stuck with" Abu Sayyaf. After returning to Mindanao, Abu Sayyaf conducted numerous raids, including one that culminated in the [[Siege of Lamitan]] and "one at a coconut plantation called Golden Harvest; they took about 15 people captive there and later used [[bolo knife|bolo knives]] to hack the heads off two men. The number of hostages waxed and waned as some were ransomed and released, new ones were taken and others were killed."<ref name=Bowden2007p54 /><ref name="Bowden"/>

On June 7, 2002, about a year after the raid, Philippine army troops conducted a rescue operation in which Martin Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap were killed. The remaining hostage was wounded and the hostage takers escaped. In July 2004, Gracia Burnham [[Testimony|testified]] at a trial of eight Abu Sayyaf members and identified six of the suspects as her captors, including Alhamzer Limbong, Abdul Azan Diamla, Abu Khari Moctar, Bas Ishmael, Alzen Jandul, and Dazid Baize. "The eight suspects sat silently during her three-hour testimony, separated from her by a wooden grill. They face the death sentence if found guilty of kidnapping for ransom. The trial began this year and is not expected to end for several months."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graciaburnham.org/pdf/Article_7-30-04.pdf |title=Burham identifies former Abu Captors |access-date=April 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051203025534/http://www.graciaburnham.org/pdf/Article_7-30-04.pdf |archive-date=December 3, 2005 }}</ref> Alhamzer Limbong was later killed in a [[Prison riot|prison uprising]].<ref>"[http://www.graciaburnham.org/index.asp?sec=3_1 Philippines Brace for Retaliation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509081455/http://www.graciaburnham.org/index.asp?sec=3_1 |date=9 May 2010 }}" March 15, 2005, Associated Press.</ref> Burnham claimed that Philippine military officials were colluding with her captors, saying that the Armed Forces of the Philippines "didn't pursue us&nbsp;... As time went on, we noticed that they never pursued us".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gracia |first=Burnham |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/911195836 |title=In the presence of my enemies |date=February 27, 2012 |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers |isbn=978-1-4143-5863-5 |oclc=911195836}}</ref>