Europeans mull efforts to free hostages in RP

Europeans mull efforts to free hostages in RP

JOLO, Philippines (AFP): Germany, France and Finland were under pressure to launch backdoor efforts to win the release of their nationals among 20 hostages held by Moro extremists in the Philippines, Vice President Gloria Arroyo said on Wednesday.

The message was conveyed to Arroyo in Poland on Monday when she met the foreign ministers from the three European countries and Finland to brief them on the 66-day hostage crisis in southern Jolo island.

Arroyo, in a statement released here, said she won the backing of the ministers to provide development aid instead of a ransom payout for the gunmen.

The Abu Sayyaf kidnappers freed Malaysian hostage Zulkarnain Hashim last weekend after a series of backdoor negotiations, and there were indications more Malaysians will be released.

The European ministers -- Joschka Fischer of Germany, France's Hubert Vedrine and Finnish Secretary of State Jukka Valtasaari -- told Arroyo the Malaysian's release "has put pressure on their governments to likewise effect the release of their nationals using back channels similar to the one believed to have been used by Malaysia," a statement from the vice president's office said.

Three Germans, two Finns and two French nationals as well as eight Malaysians, two Filipinos, two South Africans and a Lebanese are being held by the Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Jolo. They were taken there by boat after being abducted from a Malaysian resort on April 23.

Arroyo, who met the ministers on the sidelines of a conference on the "Community of Democracies," was told by Fischer that while the no-ransom policy stands, "such other avenues as developmental aid could be tapped."

The Abu Sayyaf hideout in Jolo island buzzed with activity on Wednesday as sets of emissaries redoubled efforts to win the freedom of the hostages.

An Abu Sayyaf spokesman told reporters here that four of the guerrilla group's five most senior leaders were "meeting with some people" whom he did not identify.

Sources close to the negotiations said a Chinese-Filipino businessman friend of President Joseph Estrada as well as former Moro rebels now based in the Malaysian state of Sabah were also on the island and believed to be conducting negotiations.

The former rebels are believed to be working for Malaysian interests and working exclusively to win the release of the eight remaining Malaysians, the sources said.

Formal negotiations with the Estrada government bogged down early this month after the kidnappers, who style themselves as Moro independence fighters, sought political concessions deemed "impossible" by Manila -- on top of a ransom of US$1 million per hostage.

Zulkarnain's release was attributed to the efforts of Estrada friend Lee Ping Hui, though the price for his liberty was unclear.

In a related development, the Philippines told a global Islamic body on Wednesday that it is honoring promises on development spending and other pledges made under a 1996 peace pact with a Moro separatist group in the south.

But officials of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) vehemently denied Manila's claims, saying it is lying about the sum it has provided to rebuild Mindanao after decades of war and dragging its feet on providing full autonomy.

A six-member committee from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), tasked with overseeing implementation of the 1996 accord which it helped broker, heard presentations from both sides.