Rebels skip first talks on freedom for hostages in Philippines

Jim Gomez

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 9:03 a.m.

JOLO, Philippines - Muslim guerrillas today skipped what was to have been the first talks on freedom for 21 Western and Asian hostages snatched from a resort island nearly a month ago.

Chief negotiator Robert Aventajado waited for 4 1/2 hours at a table on the lawn of a dilapidated elementary school, surrounded by coconut palms and 10 members of the elite presidential security detail armed with assault weapons.

Aides sent up the mountain to talk with the Abu Sayyaf rebels told Aventajado that the guerrillas wanted to meet all the negotiators, including Libyan envoy Abdul Rajab Azzarouq, whom they consider more likely to represent their interests.

It was unclear why Aventajado was the only negotiator present today.

At the Jolo airport on his way back to Manila, Aventajado said only two or three of the five rebel leaders were "available," and he had wanted to speak with all of them.

The rebels were also apparently spooked by the heavy security. Troops lined the highway, and 500 police guarded the school in Taglibi village.

Negotiations have been delayed by skirmishes between the rebels and troops, changes in the government negotiating team, and security arrangements.

Talks are now scheduled for later this week to secure the freedom of the three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos seized from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan on April 23.

Presidential Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said today that the government has received written demands from the rebels for the release of the hostages.

They include creation of an independent Islamic state and a commission to examine the plight of Filipinos living on Malaysia's Sabah island, not far from the southern Philippines, Zamora said.

The Philippine government has repeatedly refused to create an Islamic state.

The Abu Sayyaf, the smaller and more radical of two Muslim guerrilla groups in the impoverished southern Philippines, brought world attention to a rebellion that has simmered for decades when they kidnapped the tourists and resort employees and brought them to Jolo, about an hour away.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced in recent months by the worst wave of violence in the southern Philippines in years, triggered by clashes between troops and rebels.

The fighting has been limited to the southern part of the country, home of the mostly Christian country's Muslim minority, but several bomb attacks have struck the capital of Manila since the rebels threatened to target large cities.