Rebels: Too Dangerous for Talks
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
CEBU, Philippines (AP) - Muslim
rebels warned negotiators Sunday to stay away from their jungle camp, saying it was too
dangerous to hold talks on the release of two French hostages after a clash between rival
guerrilla factions the previous day.
Negotiators said flaring
tensions among factions of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, who say they are fighting for an
independent Islamic state, mean it will probably take at least five days to free the two
journalists. The two were not released Saturday with four other European hostages.
Rebel leader Ghalib ``Robot''
Andang called a negotiator and said he planned to retaliate against the faction that
attacked a caravan of vehicles Saturday in which he and two go-betweens were riding.
The go-betweens were not
injured, but at least one of their bodyguards was killed and eight others in the entourage
were injured, negotiators said. Many civilians were also injured in the cross fire, they
said.
``The situation is still quite
unstable,'' chief negotiator Robert Aventajado said. ``Robot needs to recover his
confidence about the security of himself and also some of his people, including the safety
of the French journalists.''
The military has reported
rising tensions among the Abu Sayyaf over the division of millions of dollars paid for the
release of other hostages seized April 23 from Malaysia's Sipadan diving resort.
After releasing two Finns, a
French and a German on Saturday, the rebels are still holding the two French journalists,
12 Filipino Christian evangelists, and a Filipino who worked at Sipadan at camps on
southern Jolo island.
A separate rebel faction is
holding an American Muslim, Jeffrey Schilling, who was abducted Aug. 28 when he visited
their camp.
In what appeared to be
Schilling's first public statement, a rebel spokesman played a tape in a radio interview
that he said was a recording of the American's voice.
``Although I am kept in either
chains or handcuffs, I am not mistreated,'' said the tape, broadcast over the Radio
Mindanao Network.
``Their negotiators are ready
to compromise on their part. Use the Libyan government as negotiators and end my captivity
as soon as possible,'' the tape said.
The man identified as Schilling
said the rebels had abducted him because they believed he was a CIA agent. ``It's
absolutely false. It's based on a misunderstanding due to my knowledge of the CIA's past
policies in the 1980s,'' he said.
The four released Europeans
spent the day Sunday relaxing at a Philippine resort hotel as they waited for a Libyan
plane that will take them to Tripoli for celebrations of their release.
Stephane Loisy of France donned
a diving suit and went scuba diving for the first time since the group was abducted from
the Malaysian resort.
``It's nice. It feels like
freedom,'' he said.
German Marc Wallert, 27, the
youngest hostage, smiled as he read newspapers with his photo on the front page. Finns
Risto Vahanen and Seppo Franti toasted repeatedly with glasses of red wine.
``We have had a lot of time to
consider our lives, consider our values,'' Vahanen said. ``I think our lives will be
changed after this.''
Franti, who was quoted in a
pool press report Saturday as saying he didn't want to go to Libya, held a news conference
Sunday to express appreciation for Libya's help.
``We are looking forward to the
celebration in Tripoli,'' he said.
Libya played a leading role in
the negotiations, paying $1 million for the freedom of each of the hostages, negotiators
said. An earlier group of six released hostages also flew to Libya.
But Libya has resisted paying
for the French journalists still in captivity, saying their company should foot the bill.
Libya insists the money is
going for development projects, not into the pockets of the rebels.
But the released hostages said
they saw signs of money flooding into the rebel camp.
``The Abu Sayyaf have been
presenting their new clothes, their golden jewelry, we know that they have bought
speedboats and motorcycles and so on,'' Vahanen said.
He said the Philippines should
learn from the abductions that it ``can't neglect remote areas.''
``They have to give similar
chances to all people, no matter what their religion, no matter where they live,'' he
said. ``What we saw in Jolo was real poverty, and this kind of poverty is always the seed
of this kind of guerrilla movement.''
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