Asia Times Online :: Tribulation Islands

PART 1: The doctor's album
US troops are standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the Philippine military in combating the Abu Sayyaf bandit-cum-terrorist group. But nothing is straightforward on the country's racked southern islands, except the hatred - whether of a kidnap victim for the terrorists, of locals for the military, or of Christians for Muslims. In this series of vignettes, horror and hope are given a human face.

PART 2: Nostalgic garden
A culture of violence has developed in the Philippines' southern islands, where many towns are run by warlords - identified as both the Abu Sayyaf and the military. Hatred runs deep, but so do memories of a gentler past and hopes for a better future.

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