| ABU FREED
HOSTAGE 'FOR FREE' CHIEF government
negotiator Roberto Aventajado said yesterday the Abu Sayyaf freed a Malaysian hostage on
Saturday as a “gesture of goodwill and no ransom was paid” contrary to earlier
reports.
Zulkarnain bin Hashim, who was held with 20 other
mostly foreign captives in a jungle in Talipao, Jolo, was turned over to Malaysian Embassy
officials (Second Secretary Bala Chardan and Defense Attache Col. Shahrin Majid) at
Malacañang.
Although the freed hostage kept mum on the fate of
his fellow captives, he however acknowledged that the hostages were separated anew by
their captors.
Aventajado said no dates have been set for new
hostage talks with the Abu Sayyaf.
The Malaysian hostage, accompanied by Aventajado, was
flown to Manila Saturday night aboard a private jet after being released unharmed by the
Jolo-based band of Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
“I’m happy because we have saved somebody
but sad because other hostages have been left behind,” Aventajado said even as he
described as “a blatant lie” reports that Zulkarnain was freed because of a
$3-million ransom offer by representatives of the Malaysian government in unofficial
negotiations with the rebels.
The Philippine government has a policy of not paying
ransom to kidnappers, he said.
KL: No ransom
An AP news dispatch said Malaysian Foreign Minister
Syed Hamid Albar was quoted Sunday by his country’s national news agency Bernama as
insisting that Malaysia has not paid any ransom or offered any kind of concession to the
kidnappers.
The terrorists are still holding three Germans, two
French, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, eight other Malaysians and two
Filipinos they seized April 23 from the Malaysian diving resort of Sipadan and brought to
the southern Philippine island of Jolo, an hour away from the resort.
Sipadan, a territory being disputed by Malaysia and
Indonesia, is near Sabah, a Philippine territory annexed by Malaysia with the assistance
of the United Kingdom.
The Malaysian’s release was described as the
biggest breakthrough so far in the two-month hostage crisis that has brought international
attention to the Philippines’ problems in Mindanao.
Aventajado said the rebels freed Zulkarnain, a
Muslim, because he was “the most religious among the hostages.” Aventajado said
they were working to secure the release of the other hostages but it is uncertain when
they could be freed.
Aventajado said Zulkarnain hugged and thanked him
when they first met in the southern port city of Zamboanga near Jolo.
Aventajado, who was once allowed to visit the
hostages at an Abu Sayyaf camp in Jolo, told Zulkarnain, “I told you I’ll bring
you out but I could not get all of you out at the same time.”
Zulkarnain, a forest ranger in Sipadan, had grown a
beard and looked tired in pictures shown on television Sunday. He was placed under guard
at a building in Malacañang’s compound and would be allowed to return home as soon
as possible, Aventajado said.
Talks soured
The negotiations appeared to have soured after the
guerrillas separated their Caucasian hostages from the Asian captives because of fears of
a military rescue operation three weeks ago.
The rebels then announced they would no longer deal
with Aventajado after he said in an interview that the government was not ruling out a
rescue operation if the talks failed.
Aventajado later said his comments were taken out of
context and the rebels subsequently said they would continue to deal with him.
In previous meetings with negotiators, the rebels
have focused on political demands, including a separate Islamic state, protection of
traditional fishing grounds from large trawlers, many of which are foreign-owned, and the
formation of a commission to examine the problems of Filipino Muslims living in
neighboring Malaysia.
At least two of five Abu Sayyaf leaders, however, are
interested primarily in a big ransom, government representatives to the rebels have said
on condition of anonymity.
The two leaders, Galib Andang, known as Commander
Robot, and Mujib Susukan, control the hostages in Jolo, an impoverished predominantly
Muslim island of 500,000 people about 950 kilometers (589 miles) south of Manila.
Many of the hostages
have fallen ill, though doctors have brought medicine and food. At least one, Frenchman
Stephane Loisy, is said to have become psychologically distressed.
--Joel R. San Juan and AP
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