1. Both U.S. and Philippine government claimed that Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels are linked to al - Qaeda organization.

2. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas claimed earlier they had already beheaded the two male hostages.

3. Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah are considered to be sympathetic to the al - Qaida terrorist network.

4. Abu Sayyaf has connections with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization.

5. In the Philippines, a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang is arrested.

6. Officials say an Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon,[http://] and Umar Patek of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah group escaped during the firefight early Monday.

7. On 23 rd this month, the US Justice Department charged five Abu Sayyaf leaders of abduction.

8. Mindanao is racked by insurgencies, from the semi-respectable—the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is engaged in peace talks—to the outright criminal, such as Abu Sayyaf in its present form.

9. Investigators suspect the al - Qaida - linked Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group may have been involved.

10. It will also win the Philippine military some kudos in Washington if it delivers a few more telling blows against regional terrorist outfit Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf militants.