American seen freed in two weeks if Muslim
rebels are "reasonable"
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Sept 4
(AFP) - A Philippine negotiator said Monday he should win the release of American hostage
Jeffrey Schilling within two weeks as long as Muslim rebels stay "reasonable"
and not ask for the moon.
Munib Estino said he was
"given a go signal" by top Philippine security officials in Manila on Monday to
begin talks with the kidnappers.
However he backed off from his
earlier plan to visit the Abu Sayyaf hideout in the remote island of Jolo on Tuesday.
If they make a demand "and
nobody can meet it," then negotiations would be pointless, he told AFP.
"But if their demand is
reasonable, two weeks should be more than enough."
Estino, who had earlier won the
release of two kidnapped Filipino journalists, two teachers and a student, said he was
using a runner to exchange messages with the guerrillas.
Another Abu Sayyaf faction is
holding six Europeans and 15 Filipino hostages in another section of Jolo. The government
hopes to win the westerners' release by the end of the week.
The two Finns, one German and
one of three Frenchmen in the group as well as one Filipino are now in their 135th day of
captivity, having been among the original batch of hostages seized from the Malaysian
island resort of Sipadan on Easter Sunday.
But Estino's first task could
be to convince the gunmen to take him seriously.
"If Erap (President Joseph
Estrada) insists on using Estino we could decide to stop negotiating," rebel
spokesman Abu Sabaya said over local radio station
Sabaya said the kidnappers of
Schilling, a 24 year-old from Oakland, California, preferred to talk to an official from
the national government.
"I am willing to step down
to give way to anyone they want. The important thing is that Schilling is recovered
unharmed," said Estino, the vice governor of the province which includes Jolo.
Estino said he held
consultations in Manila last weekend with chief government negotiator Roberto Aventajado.
Aventajado asked him to secure
the American "as soon as possible," Estino said.
Estino said the gunmen had not
made any cash or political demands, adding: "This should be no different from
Sipadan."
Like in Schilling's case, the
Abu Sayyaf also threatened to behead some of the Sipadan captives and made political
demands, such as the release of three Islamic militants held in US jails including
convicted World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Youssef.
Most of the captives were later
ransomed off for millions of dollars by Philippine military estimates. Six of the western
captives were flown home via Libya last week.
Estino said one of his
emissaries has visited the kidnappers' hideout and found that Schilling was in reasonably
good shape.
However, he found it difficult
to adjust to the gunmen's staple food of cassava flour, Estino said. The Abu Sayyaf had
said on Saturday that Schilling had gone on hunger strike.
Estrada's chief aide Ronaldo
Zamora said Monday that unlike in the case of the Europeans where Manila early on ruled
out a rescue attempt, Manila has resolved "that we deal with this issue on a local
basis. That includes police action."
Police raided the Jolo hideout
of one Abu Sayyaf faction on Sunday and rescued three Filipino construction workers who
were abducted last month.
On Saturday police in the
southern city of Zamboanga arrested four suspected Abu Sayyaf supporters including the
grandfather of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Sabaya. They plan to charge them with kidnapping.
"There has never been any
question that if the government decides to pursue actions like these, there is a very
great prospect of success," presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno said.
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