RP says won't give in to hostage-takers
RP says won't give in to hostage-takers
JOLO, Philippines (Reuters): Philippine negotiators said on
Thursday Manila will not give in to rebels holding 21 mostly
foreign hostages, dashing hopes of a quick release of the
captives, four of whom need urgent hospital treatment.
Chief negotiator Roberto Aventajado told Reuters the rebels
could sink negotiations if they insisted on their demand for a
independent Muslim homeland.
"If they insist on their original demand, that would be a
deal-breaker," he said. "We want to clarify their position. We
will look for a common ground."
The government wants the immediate release of four hostages,
including a pregnant woman, who doctors say need hospitalization.
The four are German housewife Renate Wallert, South African
Monique Strydom, French tourist Stephane Loisy and Malaysian
Zulkarnai bin Hashim.
A medical team that visited the hostages last weekend said the
pregnant Strydom needed tests, Wallert was suffering arthritic
pains and complaining of bowel problems, Loisy was emotionally
disturbed and Zulkarnai had suffered scorpion bites.
On Thursday, the hostages again vented their frustration at
the delay in negotiations and the lack of reliable information.
"It's difficult for us to cope with this situation," Wallert's
husband, Werner, told reporters visiting the camp.
"We have been kept as hostages for such a long time, creating
mental problems definitely and physical problems, too," he said,
repeating his pleas for his ailing wife to be freed quickly.
"She is still an urgent case."
Finnish hostage Risto Mirco Vahanen said the group had been
told they would be released soon, only to have their hopes dashed
as the negotiations dragged on. He urged those involved to give
them "true facts and not just illusions".
The hostages -- nine Malaysians, three Germans, two French
nationals, two South Africans, two Finns, two Filipinos and a
Lebanese -- were abducted from a Malaysian resort on April 23 and
taken to Jolo, 960 km south of Manila.
They have been held in jungle hideouts, sometimes sleeping on
the ground with just rice sacks to keep the heavy tropical rains
off, and some have threatened to commit suicide.
Aventajado will not join other negotiators due to meet Abu
Sayyaf guerrilla leader on Friday, but is due to join the
resumption of formal talks on Saturday after a two-week break.
Another government negotiator and Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan
told reporters the government wanted to end the seven-week drama
peacefully rather than sending the army into the heavily defended
Abu Sayyaf stronghold on the southern island of Jolo.
Asked about a rebel statement they would never abandon key
demands, including an independent Islamic state, Tan said: "We
will wait for them until they get tired and give in."
There had been faint hopes of the hostages being released
soon. Earlier this week, the rebels had indicated they were
willing to shorten the period of the hostages' captivity.
Tan sent an emissary to the remote rebel hideout on southern
Jolo island on Thursday with fruit, chicken, eggs, vegetables and
bread for the hostages.
A Philippine intelligence officer, who did not want to be
named, said the military had received reports the rebels would
swap a hostage for the mother of one of the guerrilla leaders,
who has been detained by rivals.
Officials say the rebels have not formally demanded a ransom
but guerrilla emissaries have reportedly demanded $20 million.
The protracted hostage crisis has embarrassed President Joseph
Estrada's government which is also struggling to curb a surge of
Islamic militancy in the country's main southern island of
Mindanao and a wave of bombings in the capital Manila.
The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of two guerrilla forces
fighting for a Moslem state. Manila offers extra autonomy.
Twenty-six members of the largest group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), were due to stand trial in a Manila
court on Thursday over the bombing of two shopping malls in the
capital that killed one person and injured dozens.