| CONTACT RESUMES
AFTER FIGHT Contacts
between the kidnappers and negotiators were cut this week after government troops
encircled the area where the hostages were being held in a bamboo hut. A series of clashes
erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday as the rebels tried to escape.
The rebels were able to break
through the military cordon and were holding their hostages at a single location outside
the area, said several villagers in touch with the negotiators.
The negotiators have resumed
contacts with the Abu Sayyaf rebels, said the villagers, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
But a man identifying himself
in a radio interview on Friday as one of the gunmen repeated a threat to kill two of the
captives if the military did not stop attacking the guerrilla group.
On Wednesday, the rebels
claimed two of the foreign hostages had died, one from a stray bullet and one of a heart
attack. Government officials have said those claims were unconfirmed, and troops who
seized the bamboo hut said they found no bodies or bloodstains.
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