15 June 2000 - The Manila Times

By Chairmaine Deogracias

FOREIGN Secretary Domingo Siazon expressed outrage Tuesday night over the Saudi Arabian envoy’s un-authorized trip to critical Mindanao provinces, fearing complications to an already chaotic situation in southern Philippines.

The diplomatic repercussions of Mindanao unrest also worsened yesterday. The governments of France, Finland and Germany are filing a joint note expressing concern over the latest impasse in negotiations for the release of the Abu Sayyaf’s 21 mostly foreign hostages.

Foreign Ministers Hubert Vedrine of France, Joshka Fisher of Germany and Tarja Halonen of Finland are expected to sign the letter today. Siazon said the ambassadors of the three countries informed him of the move Tuesday.

In a positive development, Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez backtracked on his attacks against Malaysia over the issue of Filipino migrants and said he would leave the Sabah issue to the DFA.

Rodriguez had earlier demanded declaring Malaysian Ambassador Mohammad Arshad bin Manzoor Hussein as persona non grata for his statements on Sabah and visits to Abu Sayyaf hostages. The DFA chief defended the Malaysian envoy, saying he was just doing his job.

Siazon told reporters Saudi Ambassador Saleh Moham-mad Al-Ghamdi was reported in war-torn areas amid heavy fighting between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government forces.

During induction rites of the DFA press corps, Siazon was frantically trying to get in touch with the envoy.