19 June 2000 - Reuters

Philippines 'Very Optimistic' on Hostage Talks

JOLO, Philippines (Reuters) - The chief Philippines negotiator trying to secure the release of 21 mostly foreign hostages said on Sunday he was ``very optimistic'' after their Islamic rebel captors freed five children held since March.

Presidential adviser Roberto Aventajado said no date had been set for a resumption of talks with the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf rebels, but the release of the Filipino children was a ''good sign'' for the foreign captives who have now been held for nearly two months.

``I am optimistic, very optimistic,'' Aventajado told Reuters when asked about the chances of securing the freedom of the nine Malaysians, three Germans, two French, two South Africans, two Finns, one Lebanese, and two other Filipino hostages.

The 21 were seized from a Malaysian diving resort on April 23 and taken to Jolo island in the Philippines' far south, 960 km (600 miles) south of Manila.

But presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno tempered Manila's jubilation at the release on Jolo on Saturday of the schoolchildren, aged from 10 to 13.

``We know that the work doesn't end here,'' Puno said in a television interview. ``In many ways, it has only begun. The negotiations will continue.''

The children were among more than 50 Filipinos abducted by the Abu Sayyaf from two high schools on nearby Basilan island on March 20.

The guerrillas freed most of the others, while 15 were rescued by soldiers on May 3. The military said six hostages, including a Roman Catholic priest, were killed by the rebels. Two of them were beheaded.

Teachers Still In Captivity

Three other Filipinos, including two teachers, among the group abducted in Basilan are still in rebel hands.

The foreign hostage crisis and a surge in Islamic militancy elsewhere in the country have embarrassed President Joseph Estrada and presented him with his biggest security challenge in his two years in office.

Doctors who visited the heavily fortified rebel camp on Jolo said the foreign captives were suffering from various ailments. Hostages have told visiting reporters some of their companions had become so despondent they were thinking of ending their ordeal with suicide.

The rebels have made several political demands, including establishment of an independent Muslim homeland in the south, which Manila has rejected.

Manila newspapers, quoting unnamed emissaries, said they had also asked for various amounts of ransom, including 200 million pesos ($4.7 million) for their five women captives.

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