On Basilan, the hundred or so Abu Sayyaf rebels have split into several groups as army troops continue to land on the island to hunt the rebels down. The rebels are demanding that the army withdraw from Basilan and that an independent Moslem state be allowed in the southern Philippines. What is not said is the (as yet) unspoken demand for "reparations" and "economic aid" (that is, ransom) to the rebels. The government has said publicly that it will not grant any of these demands.
