RP 'very optimistic' on hostage talks

RP 'very optimistic' on hostage talks

JOLO, Philippines (Agencies): The chief Philippines negotiator
trying to secure the release of 21 mostly foreign hostages said
on Sunday he was "very optimistic" after their Islamic rebel
captors freed five children held since March.

Presidential adviser Roberto Aventajado said no date had been
set for a resumption of talks with the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf
rebels, but the release of the Filipino children was a "good
sign" for the foreign captives who have now been held for nearly
two months.

"I am optimistic, very optimistic," Aventajado told Reuters
when asked about the chances of securing the freedom of the nine
Malaysians, three Germans, two French, two South Africans, two
Finns, one Lebanese, and two other Filipino hostages.

The 21 were seized from a Malaysian diving resort on April 23
and taken to Jolo island in the Philippines' far south, 960 km
south of Manila.

Meanwhile, Germany was Sunday reported to be readying aid
equivalent to a ransom demanded by the Muslim rebels.

Welt am Sonntag cited German intelligence services as saying
the aid could take the form of technical support for
infrastructure projects on the Philippine island of Jolo, where
Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been holding the hostages in jungle
camps.

There was no immediate confirmation of the newspaper report.

The guerrillas have sought a ransom of US$21 million and made
several political demands, including an independent Muslim state
in the southern Philippines.

But presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno tempered Manila's
jubilation at the release on Jolo last Saturday of the
schoolchildren, aged from 10 to 13.

"We know that the work doesn't end here," Puno said in a
television interview. "In many ways, it has only begun. The
negotiations will continue."

The children were among more than 50 Filipinos abducted by the
Abu Sayyaf from two high schools on nearby Basilan island on
March 20.

The guerrillas freed most of the others, while 15 were rescued
by soldiers on May 3. The military said six hostages, including a
Roman Catholic priest, were killed by the rebels. Two of them
were beheaded.

Three other Filipinos, including two teachers, among the group
abducted in Basilan are still in rebel hands.

The foreign hostage crisis and a surge in Islamic militancy
elsewhere in the country have embarrassed President Joseph
Estrada and presented him with his biggest security challenge in
his two years in office.

Doctors who visited the heavily fortified rebel camp on Jolo
said the foreign captives were suffering from various ailments.

Hostages have told visiting reporters some of their companions
had become so despondent they were thinking of ending their
ordeal with suicide.

Provincial health officer Nelsa Amin urged the government to
reopen a humanitarian channel to enable doctors to treat them.

"I am deeply worried over the situation of the Europeans,
especially (German) Renate Wallert and (Frenchman) Stephane Loisy
because it has been almost three weeks since they last received
medical attention," Amin told AFP.

The 10 tourists have been separated from the Malaysians and
Filipinos, apparently as a precaution against any military rescue
attempt.

The westerners were last treated by doctors led by Malaysian
Red Crescent Society volunteers on June 2.

A government emissary who went to the Abu Sayyaf camp late
Saturday brought back disturbing news on some of the western
hostages, Amin said.

Renate Wallert, 57, was "still sick and needs medical
attention," she said.

Loisy was reportedly under extreme psychological stress and
feared to be having a nervous breakdown. Wallert is held with her
husband and son, while Loisy was abducted with his girlfriend.

Amin said the western hostages could be suffering from severe
depression after 16 days without outside contact.

The Asian hostages were in tears and worried about a possible
military rescue, Amin added. She said a French psychologist was
expected "any time" in Jolo.

Sources close to the negotiators said the Abu Sayyaf gunmen
were also under increasing strain. "They didn't think it would
last long when they abducted them. They are in over their heads,"
one source told AFP, adding that "they are also having problems
feeding (the hostages)."

Splits have begun to appear in the Abu Sayyaf's leadership.

On Sunday two of the group's five leaders issued a signed
statement accusing the Philippine government of ignoring their
demands for a separate Muslim state and a human rights commission
to investigate the alleged abuse of Filipinos in Malaysia.

Abu Jumdail and Nadjmi Sabdullah accused Estrada's government
of reducing the crisis to one "merely grounded on monetary
considerations."