LIBYA ENVOY IMPATIENT AT ABU STALLING
FORMER Libyan envoy Rajab Azzarouq gave Abu
Sayyaf an ultimatum, and told rebels holding 20 remaining Asian and western hostages in
Sulu “to make up their minds.”
“You’ll be on your own,”
Azzarouq told extremist rebels as he hinted at growing impatience over the slow-moving
talks, while other negotiators expressed hopes for a release before President Estrada
leaves for the United States on July 24.
The hostage saga, now on its 73rd day, also
took on a stronger international flavor, as one of President Estrada’s assistants
blamed the April 23 abduction on a Malaysian-based group seeking to destabilize some
countries in Southeast Asia.
Malaysian military officials, meanwhile,
bared suspicions that the raids on two military armories could be linked to the Mindanao
conflict.
An Associated Press report said members of a
gang that raided two military armories fought back an artillery assault Wednesday and held
on to at least three hostages in the jungles of northern Malaysia.
Nearly 1,000 soldiers and policemen manned
machine guns and created makeshift bunkers inside the dense forests where they have been
battling the gunmen since Monday night.
Fresh fighting erupted early Wednesday when
the gunmen tried to shoot their way out of an army commando cordon. Two gunbattles
occurred, each lasting about 10 minutes, said a military officer speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The band had taken more than 100 M-16 and
Steyr assault rifles, grenade launchers and thousands of rounds of ammunition from the
bases in Perak.
The government has not said if it has clues
about where the weapons were headed, but independent military experts say the guns may
have been stolen by mercenaries for use by Muslim separatist rebels in the southern
Philippines or in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
‘Too long’
Azzarouq told reporters yesterday that he
wanted release talks wrapped up in two or three days.
“I hope it will be a last trip to
Sulu,” the former envoy said. “It has taken too long. We have given them enough
time.”
Azzarouq said he was not giving up. “We
will just go there to tell them it’s about time to find a solution,” he said,
reiterating the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) appeal for the immediate release
of hostages.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
admitted it has asked the OIC to prod Malaysia to take over release negotiations.
MNLF legal counsel Macapanton Abbas Jr.
admitted his group had asked the OIC to recommend the intervention of Malaysia and the
European Union.
“We told them na hindi kaya ng
government and the OIC is considering this,” he told THE MANILA TIMES. The OIC is
also eyeing help from Brunei and Indonesia, he added.
Abbas also said the government’s
rejection of an amnesty for the kidnappers could spark a war in Sulu.
“What happens if the military operates
in Sulu after the negotiations? If Sulu gets into a fight, Nur Misuari, being a native of
the province, will be involved and then, eventually, the whole MNLF gets into the
fight,” Abbas pointed out.
Sabah group
Presidential assistant secretary Farouk
Hussain, a member of the four-man negotiating panel, said rebels could free some hostages
before July 24.¨
-- Charmaine
C. Deogracias with Reuters/AP
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