PHILIPPINES RULES OUT RAID TO FREE HOSTAGES
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine
President Joseph Estrada on Thursday ruled out a military raid to free 20 mostly foreign
hostages held by Moslem rebels, warning it would mean death for some of the captives.
"It's a very complex
problem. We cannot solve this through rash action. We'll have to sacrifice some of the
lives of the hostages if we will launch commando-type operations," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, 18 town
mayors in the Sulu island group -- which includes Jolo where the hostages are held -- met
and said they would not object to a military rescue raid.
Jolo mayor Rashdi Abubakar told
reporters the meeting passed a resolution urging formation of a new government negotiating
panel but added the mayors expressed no objection to the "final option" of a
military assault if Manila decided on it.
The sentiment underlined
growing frustration over government inability to recover the captives held for more than
10 weeks by the Moslem fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
"The government's primary
concern is the safety of the hostages," Estrada said.
PRAYERS WON'T HELP, REBELS SAY
The Abu Sayyaf said earlier
prayers from a group of Christian evangelists who have gone to the heavily fortified rebel
camp on Jolo to pray for the release of the captives would not help.
"We will not be swayed by
their prayers," rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya said, denying the rebels had also taken
the Christians captive.
He said the evangelists, from a
group known as the Jesus Miracle Crusade, had gone voluntarily to the guerrilla camp to
carry out "prayer healing and fasting" for the hostages and were free to go.
But asked if there was a chance
the evangelists would be allowed to take the hostages with them when they left the rebel
camp, Sabaya said: "It depends if miracles will happen."
Defence Secretary Orlando
Mercado said on Wednesday according to his information the rebels had detained the
preachers, and a military spokesman said the rebels were demanding seven million pesos
($160,000) as an "exit fee" for the evangelists.
Abdusakur Tan, governor of the
Sulu island group whose capital is Jolo, said on Thursday he had no information on rumours
that one of the 13 preachers had been beheaded by the rebels and added: "I don't
think that's true."
Farouk Hussain, presidential
assistant secretary and a member of the government negotiating panel, told Reuters in
Manila: "I doubt it. I just talked with my emissary in Jolo and he would have
mentioned it to me but he did not. In that kind of a situation, anything can happen, of
course. But I doubt it."
The hostages -- eight
Malaysians, three Germans, two French nationals, two South Africans, two Finns, two
Filipinos and one Lebanese -- were abducted from a Malaysian diving resort on April 23 and
brought to Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila.
A ninth Malaysian captive was
freed about two weeks ago.
The rebels have demanded the
establishment of an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines -- which
Manila rejected -- and government negotiators said the issue might boil down to ransom.
Officials said the Abu Sayyaf
had demanded $1.0 million for each hostage.
Pictures of the hostages taken
by an emissary on Wednesday showed them whiling away their time in a tent somewhere in the
Talipao forest, 15 km (nine miles) from Jolo town.
One picture showed German
housewife Renate Wallert drinking from a plastic cup while a rebel commander was talking
with her while another showed French nationals Stephane Loisy and Sonia Wendling reading
what looked like typewritten messages.
A government negotiating team
was to have left Manila for Jolo on Thursday to resume talks with the rebels but delayed
its departure until Friday owing to bad weather.
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