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.