Diigo, June 27, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abu Sayyaf offers Malaysia 8 to 1 swap,

Diigo, June 27, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abu Sayyaf offers Malaysia 8 to 1 swap,

JOLO, Sulu--Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding 20 hostages here have offered to swap their eight Malaysian captives for an 85-year-old Filipino man in a Malaysian jail, according to a taped message delivered by Malaysian doctors who visited the kidnappers' jungle camp yesterday.

The hostage takers have also made a fresh demand on top of several political conditions for the hostages' release: that the government settle unpaid back wages since 1996 for "hundreds" of teachers, according to Agence France Presse sources. And they have reiterated a previous demand for the release of two school teachers from Basilan, who are the last of three remaining captives from a separate hostage crisis. The kidnappers said the two would be freed if the government removed non-Islamic practices and employed more Muslim teachers in local schools, the military said yesterday.

Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang made the offer of a prisoner swap in the taped message, identifying the Filipino as Mohamad Aklan, an elderly Muslim jailed in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. No other details about the man were available yesterday.

"We are asking the Malaysian and Philippine governments to release one Filipino jailed in Malaysia" in exchange for the eight Malaysians, Andang said in the Tausug dialect, according to a translator. The Abu Sayyaf gunmen released a ninth Malaysian hostage, Zulkarnain Hashim, over the weekend.

"The one we released was a staunch believer of Islam. So in the name of Allah and in the name of Malaysia, we released the hostage. It is not true that the Philippine government paid ransom," Andang said. Officials speaking on condition of anonymity have said the Abu Sayyaf earlier demanded $21 million plus a set of political concessions in exchange for the freedom of their captives, who were kidnapped from a Malaysian resort on April 23.

Evangelists offer $300,000

On a lighter note, a group of 10 evangelists from the Jesus Miracle Crusade yesterday offered $300,000 to the kidnappers to allow the Christians to "pray over" the hostages. The evangelists are led by Wilde Almeda, who offered last month to lead a team of "prayer warriors" to liberate the captives with prayers.

Local officials asked the 10 Jesus Miracle Crusade members to abort their mission as they arrived in Jolo yesterday. The officials warned that the military and the police could not guarantee their safety. The group's spokesman Danilo Cuartero told reporters the evangelists would give the money to the kidnappers if they are allowed to "pray over the hostages especially the sickly, as well as the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas."

"We will try to convince them to free the hostages. We will go up in the next 10 days maybe," Cuartero said. "We will not necessarily preach but we will offer a gospel of peace." The evangelists called on Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan who tried to dissuade them from their mission. After they ignored the government warning, local military officials advised them they could proceed "at their own risk."

Public school teachers

A government emissary who visited the jungle camp on Sunday brought back a letter to Governor Tan urging him to pay "hundreds" of public school teachers unpaid wages stretching back to 1996, a source close to government negotiators told AFP.

"The law is very clear. Service rendered must be paid. There is no slavery under the labor code of the Philippine Constitution. Your immediate and definite action anent (concerning) this letter is earnestly expected," the source quoted Andang and Mujib Susukan, another Abu Sayyaf leader, as saying in their letter.

The sources said the letter was accompanied by a set of documents detailing the names and positions of the supposedly unpaid teachers, and a breakdown on how much they are owed. The sources did not give monetary figures. Tan told reporters he would give the letter to the government negotiating team, of which he is also a member.

No Christmas parties

Radulan Sahiron, another senior leader of the Abu Sayyaf, told school supervisors that all Muslim female students must be compelled to wear veils and that the practice of celebrating Christmas parties and annual high school dances be abolished, a military report said.

The kidnappers want the changes implemented in certain schools in Sulu. They also want more Muslim teachers hired by government schools, the military report said. The two women teachers were among more than 50 Filipinos seized by the Abu Sayyaf from two schools in Basilan in March. Fifteen students have been rescued by the military and six were killed by the kidnappers. The rest were freed unharmed.

Western hostages visited

The government emissary on Sunday delivered food and other supplies to 10 Western hostages, who were last visited more than three weeks ago, before they were separated from their Asian co-captives. The emissary did not provide details on their physical condition and mental state, but brought back a bunch of letters and a receipt for the deliveries signed by one of three German hostages.

The emissary said he delivered a rucksack for Lebanese woman Marie Moarbes, a box of sweets and another unspecified box for South African couple Carel and Monique Strydom, and five boxes of German army rations. The Malaysian medical mission visited the camp where the eight remaining Malaysians and at least one of two Filipino hostages are being held.

Mahathir appeals

Zulkarnain's freedom was won through backdoor talks, in which the other government negotiators were apparently bypassed. Businessman Lepeng Wee, a Chinese-Filipino friend of President Estrada later took partial credit for the release.

The new demand by the rebels dampened the euphoria engendered by the weekend breakthrough, the first bright note in the hostage drama. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday appealed once again to the Abu Sayyaf to free their remaining hostages, saying this would serve the cause of the rebels.

"They have achieved, I think, what they want to achieve, that is to draw attention to their struggle," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency. He also rejected speculation that Malaysia had offered concessions to the Abu Sayyaf in exchange for Zulkarnain's freedom.

"As a government, we don't pay ransom," he told reporters.

Happy Malaysians

Also in Kuala Lumpur, National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre told the INQUIRER after paying a courtesy call to Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, that the latter was "very happy about the release of the Malaysian hostage."

"He said they would be happier, like all of us, if all (hostages) would be released soon," Aguirre said. "He also said they are not making any move to separately conduct talks (with the Abu Sayyaf) or to take a separate action with regard and stressed there was no payment of any ransom by any Malaysian official," he added.

In Manila, Senate President Franklin Drilon said that if Malaysia had paid ransom for Zulkarnain's release, the Philippines should file a diplomatic protest against Kuala Lumpur.

"A diplomatic protest will be in order because they (Malaysians) would be violating internal policies of the government not to pay ransom," Drilon told reporters. But he said if it were true that no ransom was paid, he would commend the Estrada administration for securing the release of the Malaysian.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, on the other hand, said the public should accept for now government's claims that no ransom was paid. "If Aventajado says there is none then (the statement) should be taken at face value," Biazon said. Reports from Inquirer wires; Christine Avendaño; and Carolyn O. Arguillas, PDI Mindanao Bureau