DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PHILIPPINES / HOSTAGES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261794
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Philippine troops launched a major assault on
Friday in a bid to rescue 27 Filipino hostages held by
Muslim rebels for nearly six weeks. Ron Corben reports
from VOA's South East Asia Bureau, the attack came
after negotiators made contact with Muslim extremists
who kidnapped 21 people last Sunday and are holding
them on a nearby island.
TEXT: The Philippine Armed forces say they are closing
in on a mountain hideout on Basilan Island, in
dramatic efforts to release 27 Filipino hostages. The
military says the fall of the southern Philippines
guerilla base is expected. Philippine Defense Minister
Orlando Mercado says the rebels have taken their
hostages into caves and it is now bunker to bunker
fighting.
The guerillas are from the same extremist Muslim
group, Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the kidnapping of 21
people last Sunday from a Malaysian resort island off
Borneo. And the attack came as the second hostage
drama continued.
Emissaries, who made contact with the kidnappers of
the second group, returned on Friday to Zamboanga
city, the capital of Mindinao province, to update the
government's chief negotiator, Nur Misuari. Mr.
Misuari, a leader of the Moro National Liberation
Front - or M-N-L-F - is now a governor of an
autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines.
Talks with the gunmen are said to have been held
overnight Thursday, while soldiers and police units
cordoned off a village on the southern Philipine
island of Jolo, where some of the captives had been
seen.
Some four hundred army troops and police have been
engaged in the operation.
Mr. Misuari asked the military not to launch attacks
on the hostage takers, saying they might retaliate.
Mr. Misuari also warned that the negotiations could be
difficult, adding the rebels consider their hostages
to be valuable and will hold onto them, in his words,
"tooth and nail."
There are reports the gunmen are seeking a ransom of
more than two million dollars. But Mr. Misuari says
payment of a ransom has been ruled out
by President Joseph Estrada. He adds, however, there
may be consideration of an offer of humanitarian
assistance to Sulu province, where the rebel group is
active.
The hostages, seized at the diving resort island of
Sipidan, include Malaysian and Filipino resort workers
and 10 tourists: from Germany, France, Finland,
South Africa and Lebanon. (Signed)
NEB/RC/FC/PLM
28-Apr-2000 06:43 AM EDT (28-Apr-2000 1043 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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