16 July 2000 - The Manila Bulletin

JOLO, Sulu (DPA) - Negotiators said yesterday they were hopeful that Western and Asian hostages held by Islamic terrorists in a Mindanao jungle would be freed soon after the group released a second Malaysian captive.

Chief hostage negotiator Roberto Aventajado said he was confident that "in the next two weeks" negotiators "will also be able to score" in efforts to secure the freedom of 14 Westerners among the captives of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

Abdul Jawah Salawat, a 38-year-old Malaysian policeman, was freed by the rebels on Friday. He was the second Malaysian to be freed following the release of 29year-old forest ranger Zulkarnain Bin Hashim on June 22.

Most of the remaining hostages - three Germans, two French nationals, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, seven Malaysians and two Filipinos - were abducted from the Malaysian diving island resort of Sipadan on April 23.

The other captives - 13 Christian evangelists, three French journalists and a German news magazine writer - were seized in the past two weeks on Jolo island, Sulu province, 1,000 kilometers south of Manila.

"We are optimistic that we will be able to resolve this crisis very, very soon," Aventajado told a news conference in nearby Zamboanga City. "I know that the emissaries we are using for the (Westerners) are now on the verge of scoring."

Aventajado admitted that emissaries working for the release of the Malaysians were "luckier" than those bargaining for the freedom of the Westerners. But he stressed, "Everyone has been working hard to have a balance".

A rebel source, who is privy to the negotiations, said Abu Sayyaf rebels were set to free the seven remaining Malaysians one after another or in batches next week following the payment of 2 million dollars in ransom by the Malaysian government.

"It's a done deal," the source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).

"The payment was given to the kidnappers by a Filipino Moslem working in Malaysia."

Philippine and Malaysian officials, however, denied ransom was paid for the release of Abdul Jawah and Zulkarnain. They stressed the freedom of other hostages will also not be bought.

Aventajado said Kuala Lumpur has instead promised to fund livelihood projects in Abu Sayyaf areas in exchange for the release of Abdul Jawah. He added the pledge of development aid would be the basis for future releases.

"The fund is not something that will be given directly to the Abu Sayyaf," he said. "The mechanism is a government to government mechanism."

Abdul Jawah was turned over on Saturday to Malaysian Ambassador to Manila Arshad Hussein in Zamboanga City.

"There is still more work to be done to ensure the safe and speedy release of all the remaining hostages," Arshad said. "I look forward to the day when all the remaining hostages are safely released."

Arshad said Kuala Lumpur "feels responsible (for the crisis) since this incident took place on Malaysian territory."

Abdul Jawah was freed as diplomatic pressure mounted for the Philippine government to peacefully and quickly end the 84-day hostage saga.

Foreign ministers Joschka Fischer of Germany, Hubert Vedrine of France and Erkki Tuomioja of Finland were in Manila for two days to discuss new initiatives to secure the release of all hostages with President Joseph Estrada and other Philippine officials.

In a bid to hasten settlement of the standoff, Aventajado has appointed only one emissary to deal with the extremists and asked other members of his team to give way to the new go-between he has refused to identify.

The other negotiators - former Libyan ambassador to Manila Rajab Azzarouq, Moslem peace advocate Farouk Hussein and Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan - was recalled to Manila. They were fetched from Jolo on Saturday by a private jet sent by Aventajado.

Azzarouq and Hussein on Thursday and Friday met with Abu Sayyaf leaders to discuss a "final offer" for the release of all hostages.

Aventajado denied there was conflict among the members of the negotiating panel, saying that he recalled the other negotiators "so that we will be comparing notes to find out the best way we should proceed from here."

Free in two weeks?

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Reuters) - The top Philippine official negotiating with Moslem rebels for the release of hostages held for up to 12 weeks said yesterday he hoped to resolve the crisis by the end of the month.

Speaking to reporters after handing over freed Malaysian hostage Abdul Jawa Salawat to the Malaysian ambassador, chief negotiator Robert Aventajado said, "we will be able to resolve this crisis situation very, very soon."

"We are very hopeful that perhaps in the next two weeks, we will also be able to score on the other foreign hostages."

The Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped 21 people from a Malaysian resort on Easter Sunday, April 23, and brought them by boat to Jolo, a rugged island in the southern Philippines where they have hideouts in the hills.

In these 12 weeks they have released two Malaysians but still hold seven others along with three Germans, two South Africans, two Finns, two Filipinos, two French nationals and a Lebanese.

The Filipinos and the Malaysians were either local officials or workers at the Sipadan resort while the others were tourists visiting the eastern Malaysian island, a world-renowned diving spot.

In recent weeks the rebels have abducted others including a German magazine reporter and three members of a French television crew - all of whom were reporting on the original hostage case - and 13 Filipino evangelists who went to the rebel camp to pray for the release of the hostages.

Jawa, a policeman posted at Sipadan, was released on Friday on Jolo, 960 kms (600 miles) south of Manila, and brought by sea to Zamboanga, the biggest city in the area.

Both Aventajado and Malaysian Ambassador H.M. Arshad denied any ransom had been paid, but Kuala Lumpur has agreed to pump some money into aid projects in the southern Philippines, where most of the Moslem minority of the Roman Catholic nation live.

"Malaysia and the Philippines have a joint economic commission under which there is... a committee for the advancement of socio-economic (status) of Moslem Filipinos," Arshad said.

"We have tried to focus more on the work of the committee and come up with livelihood projects."

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday he hoped more hostages held by the Moslem rebels would be released soon, while a Malaysian Foreign Ministry statement said no ransom was involved in Jawa's release.

Aventajado stressed that the development money would be given on a government-to-government basis and no money would be handed over to the Abu Sayyaf. Both he and Arshad refused to give figures.

But other officials privately say some ransom will have to be paid. They have said the Abu Sayyaf is demanding $1 million for each of the hostages kidnapped from Sipadan and P100 million ($2.2 million) for the French television journalists.

But there is a growing sense that providing money for infrastructure projects on Jolo and other areas in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, and giving the rebels some cash, could form the basis for a settlement.

"Ransom goes to the pockets of the kidnappers," a government spokesman said on Friday. "Development money will go to the development of the entire region so that the people of Mindanao will benefit and not merely the kidnappers."

Manila has worried that ransom amounts paid as cash to the rebels will be used to purchase arms and finance more kidnappings.

Hopes

JOLO, Sulu (AFP) - The release of a second Malaysian from 40 hostages held by Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines has raised hopes of further progress in the three-month-old drama, the country's defense minister said yesterday.

"Hopefully, this is the start of a series of releases, so there will be a momentum," said Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado on state television.

He was referring to the release of Malaysian policeman Abdul Jawah Sulawat, freed by the Abu Sayyaf extremists on Friday.

The release left 39 foreign and local hostages in Abu Sayyaf hands on the southern island of Jolo. The kidnappers freed another Malaysian, forest ranger Zulkarnain Hashim, last month.

Mercado said Friday's release was a welcome break from weeks of tense negotiations with the Muslim rebels, with few signs of progress.

"What is really hard is when nothing is happening. That is when there is all this talk, all this speculation," said Mercado.

"But now, we can see this is the second Malaysian, which means there will be progress."

The crisis began on April 23 when 21 Malaysian, German, French, Finnish, Filipino, South African and Lebanese hostages were seized by Abu Sayyaf gunmen from a Malaysian resort and taken across the sea border to Jolo.

Although the two Malaysians have since been released, 13 Filipino preachers, a German magazine reporter and three French television journalists have been added to the haul of captives.

Three Filipinos kidnapped by the group in the nearby island of Basilan were also taken to Jolo.

Late Friday after his release, a haggard-looking Jawah told reporters in the southern city of Zamboanga "I am feeling well. Thank God, I am safe."

He declined to reveal how he was freed.

Sources said he was picked up by an emissary in Jolo and taken by boat to nearby Zamboanga to be handed over to authorities.

Chief negotiator Roberto Aventajado denied reports that a ransom was paid. He said certain economic concessions were promised to the Muslim extremists.

He also said some of the other Malaysians could be released "in a week or so."

In another development, three government negotiators who have held meetings with the Abu Sayyaf during the hostage crisis were recalled to Manila by Aventajado.

Libyan mediator Rajab Azzarouq, local peace advocate Farouk Hussein and Sulu provincial governor Abdusakur Tan, whose district covers Jolo, were fetched by a private jet sent by Aventajado, Tan said.

Tan said they would meet Aventajado in Manila. He gave no reason for the trip, adding he expected to return by Tuesday.

Aventajado announced this week the negotiating team would be reorganized after he agreed with Abu Sayyaf chief Galib Andang to rely on a single "go-between" for direct communication.

The three negotiators would likely step aside, he said.

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