| NEGOTIATORS AND
ABU TALK ONE-ON-ONE By Faber
Concepcion
ZAMBOANGA CITY— Government emissaries are
meeting “one on one” with Abu Sayyaf leaders in Sulu in a bid to have rebels get
their act together before negotiations resume for the release of 21 Asian and western
hostages.
“The
emissaries have been meeting discretely with Abu Sayyaf factions, also to reassure them
that the government is always ready to sit down with them,” an aide of government
chief negotiator Robert Aventajado said yesterday.
Aventajado is expected to arrive here today (Friday)
together with Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan before proceeding to Jolo town for possible
reopening of release negotiations.
Meantime, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said
government negotiators would offer Muslim separatists holding 21 Western and Asian
hostages government projects instead of ransom.
He added the governments of the foreign hostages held
on Jolo Island for nearly two months could help by sending medicine and food to the
captives, but they could not meddle in negotiations.
“There will come a time when they will demand a
ransom and we would ask them not to seek ransom but social development projects,”
Zamora said in a radio interview.
The government has a policy of not paying ransom to
kidnappers. On Monday, Zamora said the Abu Sayyaf rebels have demanded at least $1 million
for each captive but stressed that the government would stick to its policy.
“We have to make sure what are really their
actual demands before talks resume,” the source said, saying the kidnappers were
still undecided on their final list of demands.
“We’d like the negotiations to proceed
smoothly; it’s been a long time for the hostages,” he added.
Abu Sayyaf rebels seized tourist and resort workers
in Sipadan Island, Malaysia, last April 23.
“The rebels change their demands oftentimes, and
they show inconsistencies on what they really
want” a ranking official of the Sulu provincial government, said on condition of
anonymity. He also cited rifts and divisions among Abu Sayyaf commanders as a reason for
the delay in release efforts.
“There is a
problem between the group of Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot and the faction of
Commander Sahiron Radullan, the one armed bandit,” the source said.
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