RP agents make initial contact with kidnappers

RP agents make initial contact with kidnappers

JOLO, Philippines (AFP): Government agents have made the first
contact with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding 21 people from seven
nations hostage in the southern Philippines and said the captives
were unharmed, officials said on Thursday.

The Philippine military meanwhile gave an assurance that it
would not risk endangering the lives of the Malaysian, German,
French, Finnish, South African, Lebanese and Filipino hostages
with a rescue attempt.

"They said everyone is alive and kicking so there is nothing
to worry about except food. In order to survive they have to put
up with whatever they have to. They have to learn to eat
cassava," chief government negotiator Nur Misuari told reporters.

He said that Abu Sayyaf militants in their first meeting with
two of his aides wanted protection of ancestral fishing grounds
as part of demands for the release of the hostages who were
abducted Sunday from a Malaysian resort and taken to Jolo island
in the southern Philippines.

They were also seeking wide media coverage of their efforts
and asked for specific coverage from the country's biggest
broadcasting network, ABS-CBN.

Misuari said he not been informed of any further demands but
said he would reject any cash ransom. Earlier reports said the
abductors were demanding more than US$2 million.

"I don't intend to entertain any financial demand. That will
encourage people to establish this industry because there is fast
money there," he said in a news briefing here.

Local police said at least 17 of the hostages were hidden in
separate safehouses of the Abu Sayyaf in the towns of Maimbung,
Talipao, Indanan and Patikul in Jolo.

Military units have been deployed in strategic areas of this
island to deter movement of the hostages and prevent their
captors from linking up with other rebel units in nearby islands,
military vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim said.

France and other Western governments have warned Manila
against making a precipitate move which could endanger the lives
of the captives.

"I am aware of the concerns of the governments of the hostages
because they are after the safety of their nationals. That is our
primordial objective also," Calimlim told reporters in Zamboanga.

"If it is too risky for the hostages we will not do it. We
will do it through negotiations," he said.

Misuari said the gunmen "expect pursuit operations so I told
them (the military) to wait," adding that his emissaries will
step up their contacts with the kidnappers.

Speaking in nearby Zamboanga city, Misuari described as "not
true" and "forgery" television news reports in Manila that eight
of the nine Malaysian hostages in the group had been freed.

Misuari said he received information that the Asian hostages
might be released earlier, stressing that the captors eyed higher
ransoms from the Western captives.