No sign of release for Abu hostages

Formal talks over the weekend between government negotiators and Abu Sayyaf leaders ended in yet another stalemate, with no sign that the 21 mostly foreign hostages being held by the extremist guerrillas in Sulu will soon be released.

Chief government negotiator Robert Aventajado ruled out any compromise on two of three demands raised by the Abu Sayyaf in exchange for the freedom of the hostages.

However, Aventajado described the rebel negotiators as "reasonable people."

"There is flexibility on their side," he said.

After the first round of meetings held Saturday in the bandits' jungle lair in the hinterlands of Talipao town in Sulu, Aventajado flew back to Manila in a private jet for consultations with President Estrada and legal advisers regarding the guerrillas' demands.

During the meeting, the Abu Sayyaf negotiators led by Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, reiterated their demand for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in Mindanao and the creation of a government commission to investigate alleged abuses against Filipino contract workers in Malaysia.

Aventajado, the Presidential Adviser on Flagship Programs, quickly rejected these demands, saying the issue of an independent Islamic state "is something we cannot even discuss with you" lest an impeachment proceeding be initiated against the President for allowing the country to be dismembered.

On the creation of the commission, Aventajado quoted the Malaysian ambassador as saying no government would allow itself to be investigated.

Andang said he would consult with his comrades to prepare a formal response.

The Abu Sayyaf has also pressed for the expansion of the autonomous Muslim region.

The Associated Press reported that four of the five Abu Sayyaf negotiators and the five government representatives led by Aventajado embraced and bussed one another on the cheeks before they sat down barefoot in a circle on the floor of a mosque in Talipao for the one-hour talks.

Andang rested an M-16 rifle with a grenade launcher on his lap, while other heavily armed rebels peered through windows and eavesdropped on the negotiations.

After the talks, the government negotiators boarded their bullet-proof car and headed for the Abu Sayyaf hideout to visit the hostages.

They hiked for about 45 minutes up a mountain trail to the camp, where the Asian hostages are housed in one tent and the Westerners in another.

The negotiators shook hands with all the hostages and assured them they were doing everything to secure their immediate release.

"Just hang on...don't do anything foolish," Aventajado advised the captives.

The assurance appeared to have slightly lifted the hostages' sagging morale.

Risto Vahanen of Finland said they looked forward to being released in a few days, but added that they have been disappointed over the slow pace of the negotiations.

Aventajado also told Lebanese Marie Moarbes that over the past two weeks, the government negotiators have tried to set up the right atmosphere for the talks.

"We just want to be out...all of us," Moarbes replied.

French national Sonia Wendling said she felt her government has not done enough to help resolve the crisis.

Aventajado sounded optimistic about the success of the negotiations.

"Commander Robot told me he feels that we are within striking distance (of an agreement). That is the reason why they agreed to take us (to their camp) and see the hostages," the presidential adviser said.

"Our feeling is this would not last, but we don't want to give specific number of days," he added.

There was no definite schedule for the resumption of talks, but sources said the negotiators may meet anew on Wednesday.

The meeting was scheduled earlier last Friday, but troop movements scuttled the talks as the Abu Sayyaf split up into several groups, making communication with them extremely difficult. And when they were finally contacted, it was already too late in the day.

During the talks Saturday, the two sides agreed to keep the military about eight kilometers away from the venue of the talks in Bandang village in Talipao.

The guerrillas, generally referred to by the military and the police as plain bandits, guarded the two-kilometer road to the mosque.

They stopped a long convoy of vehicles, including three vans packed with journalists, and allowed only a few to pass, including the bulletproof car used by the negotiators.

The hostages, consisting of nine Malaysians, a German family of three, a French couple, two Finns, a South African couple, two Filipinos and a Lebanese, were snatched by heavily armed men from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan off Borneo last April 23, and taken on an hour-long boatride to nearby Sulu.

Meanwhile, the military said suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen ambushed an Army convoy in the nearby island province of Basilan, wounding at least seven soldiers.

The troops were part of an island-wide military operation against another band of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding hostage seven hostages, remnants of over 50 people, among them schoolchildren who were seized from two schools in Sumisip town.

In another development, the European Union (EU) assailed what it called "appalling abuse of human rights both by the Muslim guerrillas and the military in Mindanao."

In a strongly worded resolution, the EU hinted the use of the military and the vigilante groups to address mass kidnappings in the South merely contributed to the rise in the incidence of human rights abuses in the region.

The resolution stated that "elements within the Philippine armed forces have also committed human rights violations in the context of counter-insurgency, including extra judicial executions, torture, disappearance and indiscriminate killings of civilians."

The EU urged the Estrada administration to focus on improving the livelihood of the people to make the country stable.--