May 1, 2000, Seattle Times, Aid for hostages in Philippines,

May 1, 2000, Seattle Times, Aid for hostages in Philippines,

A shirtless Stephane Loisy and Sonia Wendling, right, French citizens being held hostage in the Philippines by Muslim rebels, receive medical treatment and food and toiletries yesterday after a doctor was allowed into the Abu Sayyaf camp on Jolo island. The rebels are holding 21 hostages kidnapped April 23 from a Malaysian resort. The hostages pleaded for freedom in front of journalists who accompanied the doctor. Philippine troops have ringed the area where the hostages are being held, one of two kidnapping standoffs in the Philippines' southern islands. On the nearby island of Basilan, another group of rebels escaped with its 27 hostages when government troops overran their base last weekend, the military admitted yesterday.