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."