She said the military crackdown was continuing but there was no improvement in the situation. In addition to the three Americans and the hospital staff, the Abu Sayyaf extremists are also holding six Filipinos seized from Dos Palmas. The kidnappers brought the hostages seized from the Dos Palmas resort to Basilan, a remote mountainous island and have since been engaged in almost non-stop clashes with government troops. At least nine of the Filipino captives escaped in the fighting over the weekend, but the rebels took more hostages from a hospital they occupied in the town of Lamitan. Philippine has said she is considering martial law to quash Muslim separatists hostage takers after two soldiers were killed in violent clashes.
Martial law is the prerogative of the president.
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