July 24, 2000, BusinessWorld, Abu Sayyaf rebels may free three Malaysians soon,

July 24, 2000, BusinessWorld, Abu Sayyaf rebels may free three Malaysians soon,

JOLO, Sulu -- Moro rebels may release today three Malaysians among 31 mostly foreign hostages they are holding in their jungle hideout on Jolo island, a source close to the negotiations said. Besides the Malaysians, the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf rebels may also release two Filipino captives, sources told Reuters yesterday.

Chief government negotiator Roberto Aventajado, who is in Manila, refused to comment on the report but said he was prepared to fly to Zamboanga City at any time to receive any hostages who might be freed by the guerrillas. The three Malaysians and the two Filipinos were among a group of 21 mostly foreigners seized by the Abu Sayyaf from a Malaysian diving resort on April 23, and brought to Jolo.

They have freed six other Malaysians and ailing German hostage Renate Wallert from the group, which also includes Ms. Wallert's husband and a son, two French nationals, two Finns, two South Africans and a Lebanese. The rebels have also released two local school teachers kidnapped on nearby Basilan island in March and a teenaged son of a soldier they killed in a gunbattle in May.

Seventeen other hostages are in rebel captivity -- a German reporter and three French television journalists who were seized in recent weeks while covering the hostage drama, and 13 evangelists who went to the rebels' lair to pray for the hostages and ended up being taken captive themselves.

The Abu Sayyaf is one of two groups fighting for an Islamic state in Mindanao. "That would be the minimum," a source close to the negotiations told Reuters when asked if the next batch of releases would include the three Malaysians.

"We are trying our best to have all the hostages released but we cannot get them all at the same time," retired Philippine Marines general Guillermo Ruiz, security adviser of the government's negotiating panel, told Reuters. "That's why they are coming out in trickles."

If the five are released, the Abu Sayyaf would still hold 26 hostages -- 13 foreigners and the 13 Filipinos. Diplomats close to the negotiations said the rebels were freeing the Malaysians ahead of the Western hostages as a result of a deal reached with a Malaysian businessman, with the tacit approval of Kuala Lumpur.

The diplomats said the rebels believed holding on to the Westerners was insurance against a military attack. Meanwhile, government negotiators are expected to prioritize negotiations for the release of the Westerners when they meet with Abu Sayyaf commanders anew this week in Jolo.

Thus said Farouk Hussain, a member of the government negotiating panel. "We are going there (Jolo) as early as tomorrow (Monday) to try to work for the release of the Europeans. They are our priority, if we can't get them (Abu Sayyaf members) to release everybody," he told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

Mr. Hussain noted Abu Sayyaf commanders agreed as early as two weeks ago to release all Malaysian hostages. "Turnover" problems, however, resulted in the delay in their release. He also said that "private emissaries" sent by relatives of the Malaysian hostages may have paid ransom for the release of their kin.

"For the Philippine government and for the governments who are involved here, it has always been 'no ransom payment'. But if there are private individuals who will be paying ransom, we have no power to stop them," Mr. Hussain said. He also said the Philippine government has not imposed sanctions to prohibit the payment of ransom to Moro rebels. -- Reuters on Jolo and Ruffy L. Villanueva