June 2, 2000, Seattle Times / AP, Philippine hostages face long ordeal, by Jim Gomez,

June 2, 2000, Seattle Times / AP, Philippine hostages face long ordeal, by Jim Gomez, 

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Anguished hostages wept yesterday while carpenters began building them a more permanent jungle shelter, saying they could not take the prospect of a more prolonged stay in the hands of Muslim rebels.

Carpenters hired by the government arrived yesterday, along with a medical team and several journalists at the rebels' jungle camp on the island of Jolo. Many of the 21 mostly foreign hostages have become ill during their six weeks in captivity in the southern Philippines.

However, several captives said the shelter was seen as a sign the standoff won't end soon.

"We cannot face this anymore," said Monique Strydom, a South African woman who says she is more than three months pregnant. "Next week I'm going to stop eating."

"It's a very bad sign," said Risto Vahanen of Finland. "It means we will be here for a longer time. We want to get out of here as soon as possible, and I hope the means is not through suicide or harming oneself."

The hostages were seized April 23 from a Malaysian resort island and brought to the Philippines. They have been moved to a series of jungle hide-outs by their captors, a small Muslim rebel group called Abu Sayyaf. They are currently living under two large tarps - one for the European hostages and one for the Asians - which don't adequately protect them from heavy rains.

The hostages are three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.

A separate Abu Sayyaf band is holding six Filipino children and two teachers hostage on the nearby island of Basilan.

In the first negotiations a week ago, the government rejected two of the Abu Sayyaf's three formal demands: an independent Islamic state and a commission to investigate the treatment of Filipinos in neighboring Malaysia. The rebels also asked that foreign fishing boats be prevented from poaching in nearby seas.