France sends top official to RP for hostage talks

The top official of the French foreign ministry has been dispatched to Manila to help in talks to secure the release of hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf, according to a report from Paris.

Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine told France-Inter radio yesterday that Loic Hennekine, secretary-general at the Quai d'Orsay, was due in the Philippines late last night.

"We are continuing to insist to the Philippine authorities that they do nothing that will put the lives of our hostages at risk. Our representatives there are doing all they can to make sure they get humanitarian aid," Vedrine said.

A French couple are among the 21 hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo.

This developed as the military reported that 24 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas involved in two hostage crises in Western Mindanao were arrested in Basilan recently.

Ten of the gunmen were captured at noon on Saturday in Barangay Canibungan in Lantawan town, while 12 more rebels were arrested on Tuesday at Sitio Balawatin in Barangay Lumbang, Isabela, Armed Forces public affairs chief Col. Jaime Canatoy said. Earlier, two Abu Sayyaf guerrillas were also arrested in Basilan.

Meanwhile, Malacañang unveiled a P613.7-million loan from Germany to boost farm production in selected Muslim-dominated provinces.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora clarified that the money from the Bayerische Hypound Vereinsbank for the Department of Agrarian Reform is not connected with the hostage crisis.

Canatoy said assorted ammunition and eight rifles were seized from the 24 suspects. The military later established that one of the firearms had belonged to an Army soldier who was killed in Basilan three years ago.

Remnants of an Abu Sayyaf unit are holding at least five schoolchildren and two teachers, the remainder of a larger group of Filipino hostages taken from two schools by the rebels last March 20.

Those arrested were brought to the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion headquarters in Basilan for interrogation.

Canatoy said only 12 of the rebels have been identified so far.

They are Commander Otoy Matarul, Muktar Daholoy, Motong Islae, Yaral Misal, Asmad Otoh, Asan Imbang, Raja Anjara, Said Bunsang, Abon Isun, Sabdani Kahal, Jun Lain and one Abdusalim.

Meanwhile, the Abu Sayyaf released on Tuesday afternoon a worker for a family planning group whom they held hostage for 88 days.

Andres Amante was freed in a remote village near Patikul town in Sulu after his family paid a "small amount" to cover his "board and lodging" during his captivity. He refused to say how much was paid.

The victim, who is a finance officer of the Philippine Federation for Natural Family Planning, said he was on his way to the capital town of Jolo when the rebels flagged down his vehicle at gunpoint.

The gunmen, who were wearing ski masks and combat fatigues, released the other passengers and fled with Amante, who had arrived in Sulu two days earlier to conduct literacy and family planning classes in remote villages, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said.

"I don't know why they kidnapped me," Amante said in an interview. "They told me, 'We'll just borrow you'."

He said he was never maltreated during his captivity and his abductors were not hostile to him. "Thanks to God, nothing happened to me," he said.

He said he spent about five days with the Sipadan hostages and often shared stories with South African Callie Styrdom.

Asked what the chances are for the release of the other hostages, he said, "I know the chances of the German woman are big. I know they are working it out."

Amante said his kidnapping was a "good learning experience" because it offered an opportunity for him to understand the rebels, but said he did not want to go through it again.

"If you see their way of life, you'll pity them," he said. "They told us you can come back and no one will harm you."

In a related development, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the Abu Sayyaf holding 21 Western and Asian hostages in Sulu may ultimately ask for money although all their formal demands so far have been political.

"If they are political demands, you can talk forever and ever and it will not have any effect on the situation there," he said. "I see more demands coming, and I do not think the political demands are what we will really be talking about."

According to Sulu Gov. Tan, who is a member of the negotiating team, the Abu Sayyaf rebels' demands are the same as those included in a two-page manifesto issued on May 15.

That document called for the creation of a separate Islamic state -- something President Estrada has repeatedly refused to consider.

It also asked for the creation of an international commission to examine the plight of Philippine Muslims in nearby Malaysia.

There could be more room for common ground on that issue.

The Philippines might be able to take the question up with the Malaysian government, Puno said.

Informally, the Abu Sayyaf has asked for as much as $2 million just to free an ill German hostage, Renate Wallert, whose quick release tops the negotiators' agenda.

Formal negotiations are likely to begin late today or tomorrow on the freedom of the three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos kidnapped from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan on April 23, Puno said.

Skirmishes between the rebels and troops, changes in the government negotiating team, and the need for security arrangements on the volatile island have delayed formal negotiations, although the rebels have discussed their goals informally with government envoys.

The Abu Sayyaf, the smaller and more radical of two guerrilla groups fighting for an independent Islamic state in impoverished Mindanao, brought world attention to a rebellion that has simmered for decades when they kidnapped the tourists and resort employees and brought them to the island of Jolo, about an hour away.

Analysts say the Abu Sayyaf, while espousing political ideals, are bandits who survive by kidnapping and extortion.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced in recent months by the worst wave of violence in Mindanao in years, triggered by clashes between troops and rebels.

The fighting has been limited to the southern part of the country, home of the Muslim minority, but several bombs have struck the capital of Manila since the rebels threatened to target large cities. The latest, which struck the country's biggest mall on Sunday, killed one person.

The larger rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, denied involvement.

The Abu Sayyaf are considering the government's request that they allow regular medical visits to the hostages, Puno said.

At the pressing of the hostages' home countries, the government wants to send a humanitarian team up the mountain to the rebel camp every two days.

A videotape taken by journalists allowed to visit the camp Tuesday shows the hostages in a much more relaxed state. With the two Finns roasting fish over a wood fire, the hideout had the look of a camp-out.

In other developments yesterday, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said a former Army colonel and a retired Marine sergeant have expressed their desire to testify on the alleged links of the Abu Sayyaf to the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Pimentel said the former soldiers, who were assigned in Mindanao, have sent feelers that they are willing to appear before a Senate inquiry.

Besides the two, another witness, who was privy to the creation of the Abu Sayyaf, is also being invited to the hearing.

The inquiry stemmed from Pimentel's privilege speech this month, stating that the CIA was in cahoots with a group of military officers to put up the rebel group.

The senator said members of this rebel group were trained in Mindanao but were sent to Afghanistan to fight Russian invaders.

"Funds and arms of the Abu Sayyaf were provided by US covert operators, probably connected with the CIA. Osama bin Laden could have been the principal courier of either the Abu Sayyaf funds or arms or both," he said.

The hearing was supposed to be conducted last week but was rescheduled to a later date after Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate defense committee, went to the United States.