Tokyo ? Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Tuesday that American missionaries held hostage by Muslim extremists are still alive, despite the extremists’ threats to kill the couple.

Arroyo’s remarks were the first indication in weeks that the couple haven’t been killed. Earlier this month, the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers ruled out negotiating the release of Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan.

The Philippine leader’s comments come just a day after U.S. Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster admitted a massive U.S.-backed search for the couple has turned up few leads despite the use of U.S. military surveillance planes and equipment since January.

The Philippine military has been trying to rescue the Burnhams for nearly a year. And Arroyo defended her decision to bring in U.S. forces, saying they have provided key training and equipment to her country’s military.

The Abu Sayyaf has since threatened to kill the Burnhams if troops close in.

Speaking Tuesday in Tokyo, Arroyo insisted the couple was still “alive,” and that the presence of U.S. troops was not aimed specifically at freeing them yet she declined to say what basis she had for believing the Burnhams still lived.

The Burnhams and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap are the last hostages from an Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree that started last May 27. Another American, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California, was killed by the guerrillas last year.

U.S. Special Forces in the Philippines are barred from engaging in combat but have provided weapons, aerial surveillance, air transport and medical support to a few thousand Filipinos fighting against the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf on Basilan in the southern Philippines.

Arroyo said she expected the operations to end soon, though she didn’t specify when.