Officials: U.S. Missionary Kidnapper Killed

June 21 -- One of the top figures in the Muslim guerrilla group that held two Kansas missionaries hostage for more than a year has been killed in a clash with U.S.-trained troops, U.S. and Philippine officials said.

Abu Sabaya was one of the most visible figures in the Abu Sayyaf group, which was holding Americans Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage when Martin Burnham was killed during a Philippine military rescue attempt earlier this month.

Philippine national security adviser Angelo Reyes told local television the military was still searching for the body of Sabaya following a firefight off the coast of the Zamboanga peninsula, but two U.S. military officials told ABCNEWS they believed the Philippine military had recovered his body.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Sabaya was one of several guerrillas who were on a boat that came under fire by elite Philippine navy troops. Sabaya jumped off after being wounded, she said, but four others were captured.

"The captured Abu Sayyaf members confirmed that one of those who jumped into the sea was Abu Sabaya, who was wearing a black sweat shirt," the president said. "The [military] team also confirmed shooting the man in the black sweat shirt."

Maj. Richard Sater, a spokesman for U.S. forces conducting a counterterrorism training exercise aimed at helping local troops wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, told The Associated Press: "We did get word from the [Philippine military] that Abu Sabaya was one of those killed in the encounter.

"We are encouraged," he said. "It is a step forward in the war against terrorism."

Arroyo, who repeatedly has vowed to crush the Abu Sayyaf, congratulated the military in a written statement.

"Our no-ransom, no-negotiation policy is paying off," she said. "Terrorists will be hunted down relentlessly wherever they are, in the vastness of the jungle or in the high seas. They will be given no room to maneuver, to hide, or to rest. We will not stop until they are all accounted for."