| Libya envoy to arrive, more Jolo
hostages seen free MANILA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A key Libyan negotiator is due back in Manila on
Tuesday for what Philippine officials hope would result in the release of six Europeans
and one Filipino held hostage by Muslim rebels in the south.
Rajab Azzarouq, who has played
a major role in securing the release of several hostages from the captivity of the Abu
Sayyaf rebels in recent weeks, was scheduled to arrive from Libya in the afternoon, the
officials said.
They said he was likely to hold
talks with Robert Aventajado, the government's chief hostage negotiator, soon after
arriving. The two are likely to travel to the southern island of Jolo, where the hostages
are being held, on Wednesday, they added.
Aventajado has said more
hostages would be released when he and Azzarouq go to Jolo, 960 km (600 miles) south of
Manila.
The Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped
21 people, mostly foreigners, from a Malaysian diving resort on April 23 and in July
abducted three members of a French television crew who had come to Jolo to report on the
crisis.
Fourteen of the hostages have
now been released, including a South African couple, three Frenchwomen and a German man
who were freed last week and taken to Tripoli to be ceremonially handed over to their
governments. Azzarouq had also gone for the ceremony.
Libya has taken a major
initiative to resolve the crisis in the hope that it can improve its international profile
following years of isolation after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The seven hostages still held
include a Filipino resort worker and four Europeans who were vacationing on the Malaysian
island -- two Finns, a German and a Frenchman. Two members of the French television crew
are also still in rebel captivity.
Authorities are also hoping the
rebels will release a dozen Filipino evangelists who went to the camp in July to fast and
pray for the hostages.
It was earlier unclear whether
they were being held against their will but officials are now treating the evangelists
also as hostages.
Last week, another faction of
the rebels kidnapped a 24-year-old American and demanded that the United States free three
Islamic militants jailed for the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center.
Some officials have also said
the faction demanded $10 million in ransom.
U.S. officials have however
said they would make no concession to the kidnappers.
Aventajado has said the
abduction of the American, Jeffrey Schilling, would not affect his deal to free the
Europeans and the Filipino.
Local officials have said Libya
had arranged ransom of about $1 million per hostage, but Tripoli denied any money had been
handed over to the rebels. Local officials have however said the rebels had bought arms
and a speedboat with part of the ransom.
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