Philippine Rebels Won't Swap Hostage
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -
Muslim rebels holding an American hostage in a southern Philippine jungle refused Tuesday
to exchange him for a suspected guerrilla.
Jeffrey Schilling, 24, of
Oakland, Calif., ended a hunger strike and is being held in a heavily guarded bamboo hut,
said a government envoy who visited the rebel camp. Schilling's legs are tied because he
tried to escape, the envoy said.
On Monday, police said they had
arrested a 73-year-old man suspected of belonging to the Abu Sayyaf rebels and accused him
of taking part in kidnappings on Basilan island.
Rebel spokesman Abu Sabaya
identified the man as his grandfather, but refused to swap him for Schilling, who was
kidnapped Aug. 28.
The rebels will not release
Schilling for ``even 10, even 100 of my grandfathers,'' Sabaya told the Radio Mindanao
Network.
The rebels, who say they are
fighting to establish an Islamic state in the southern Philippines, have insisted that the
arrested man, Ahmad Opao, be freed before they begin talks for Schilling's release.
Schilling, who became a Muslim
in 1994, was taken hostage when he visited the Abu Sayyaf's camp on Jolo island, 580 miles
south of Manila. The rebels seized him after he angered them in a debate about religion
and politics, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Abu Sayyaf is holding six
Europeans - four from a group abducted April 23 from a Malaysian diving resort and two
French journalists - and 12 Filipino Christian evangelists who came to pray for the
hostages in July.
Officials hope the six
Europeans will be freed later this week after the return Tuesday of Libyan negotiator
Rajab Azzarouq, who is leading talks for their release. Libya reportedly paid $6 million
for last week's release of six other foreigners.
Schilling has been living in
Zamboanga since March with a Muslim Filipino woman, Ivi Osani. The couple married several
months ago.
Osani, Sabaya's second cousin
and the widow of a rebel killed in fighting several years ago, said she and Schilling were
invited by Sabaya to visit the Abu Sayyaf camp.
On Monday, the rebels rejected
the government's choice of a local official to negotiate for Schilling's freedom and
demanded a national government official instead.
Government officials refused to
replace negotiators.
``It is not for them to
determine who the negotiators for the government are going to be,'' said presidential
executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora. ``If they don't want to negotiate, then there will be
no negotiations.''
Zamora said Schilling was
apparently responsible for his own capture.
``Unlike the European hostages
who were taken by force without their consent in another country and brought to the
Philippines, Schilling walked into the Abu Sayyaf camp. We don't really have to do
anything about it,'' he told the government radio station.
The Abu Sayyaf faction which
abducted Schilling also kidnapped about 50 children and teachers on Basilan in March.
Two teachers were beheaded
after the United States ignored the group's demand for the release of Arab terrorists held
in U.S. jails. The faction also killed a Catholic priest.
The group has not announced its
demands for Schilling's release, although Sabaya privately demanded $10 million last week,
negotiators said.
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