GERMAN JOURNALIST, 8 MALAYSIANS TO BE FREED
JOLO SULU (ABS-CBN) - Backdoor
negotiations to seek the release of a German journalist and eight Malaysians held by the
Abu Sayyaf group gained ground Saturday, sources close to the rebels said.
Emissaries are meeting with the Abu Sayyaf guerillas outside
Jolo town and there are signs that the kidnappers may agree to release the Malaysians
seized on April 23, and a German journalist kidnapped last weekend.
Final details are already being worked out for the freedom of
German journalist Andreas Lorenz and the emissary meeting on his behalf is expected to
bring him out of captivity soon, the sources said.
The kidnappers earlier pledged to provincial governor
Abdusakur Tan, one of the government negotiators, they would release Lorenz this week.
Another emissary, meeting on behalf of the eight Malaysians,
is also close to working out an arrangement for their release. Authorities from Malaysia
are already waiting in the nearby city of Zamboanga for the Malaysians to be set free,
sources added.
On Friday, President Joseph Estrada's spokesman, Ricardo Puno
said he was optimistic the crisis would be resolved before Estrada departs for a ten-day
visit to the United States on July 24.
However, the government has warned that quarreling among the
kidnap leaders over money could delay any release.
Observers said that money inevitably changed hands in the Abu
Sayyaf kidnapping, but emissaries were tight-lipped over the issue as the government
insisted that it would not pay ransom.
The military earlier reported that two factions of the Abu
Sayyaf had almost shot it out earlier this week over the fate of 13 Filipino Christian
preachers detained on July 1. The group visited the Abu Sayyaf camp to pray over the other
hostages.
Although official government negotiators have not met with the
Abu Sayyaf for weeks, unofficial emissaries continue to keep the talks alive.
Last month, emissaries persuaded the Abu Sayyaf to release one
Malaysian hostage, a forest ranger.
Back to Sipadan Hostages News
Back
to This Week's Borneo News |
