DATE=5/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PHILIPPINES HOSTAGE WRAP (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261857
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A Philippine government doctor visited 21
foreign hostages Monday afternoon as efforts to
end two hostage dramas in the Southern
Philippines appear to be making little progress.
As Ron Corben reports from V-O-A's Southeast Asia
Bureau, the medical assistance came as chief
negotiator Nur Misuari threatenedto end talks
unless there was release of the hostages.
TEXT: The doctor arrived at the camp on Jolo
Island on the Philippine southern Sulu
Archipelago, late Monday, amid signs the 21
foreign hostages' condition was deteriorating.
Provincial health officer Nelsa Amin took medical
supplies to the hostages -- now split up into
four groups -- after receiving a call from the
provincial governor.
The call for medical aid came amid signs the
condition of the hostages was deteriorating --
especially over the 36 hours since
the group was filmed by an independent Filipino
journalist.
In the weekend interviews -- the footage of which
was aired Monday -- the hostages were said to be
suffering from diarrhea caused by drinking
contaminated water.
German hostage Werner Gunter Kort said the
situation was deteriorating ``from day to day."
A South African woman, reported to be Monique
Strydom, was reported by an Abu Sayyaf spokesman
to have collapsed Monday -- apparently from
hunger and exhaustion. One of the Finnish
hostages was also suffering from a bleeding
ulcer.
The physician took medicines, food and clothes
supplied by the French, German and Finnish
embassies.
The government's chief negotiator -- Muslim
regional governor Nur Misuari -- said earlier
soldiers had surrounded the Islamic rebels of the
Abu Sayyaf. However, he repeated his warning
against military intervention.
Mr. Misuari also threatened to end negotiations
unless the guerrillas began to release the
captives.
The hostages include nationals from Malaysia, the
Philippines, Germany, France, South Africa, and
Finland and Lebanon.
The group had been taken from the Malaysian
resort island, Sipadan, April 23rd. They were
spirited away on a 20-hour boat ride, during
which time they had nothing to drink.
Contact with the Muslim rebels is being
maintained through emissaries sent by Mr.
Misuari. He said the group was surrounded, with
up to two thousand soldiers encircling the camp.
On nearby Basilan Island, Philippine troops are
continuing to search for two dozen Filipino
hostages -- mostly women and school children --
held for the past six weeks by Abu Sayyaf rebels,
Philippine troops overran the camp two days ago,
but failed to see the hostages.
However, troops were reported hearing children's
voices from within a network of tunnels where the
Muslim rebels were believed to have taken the
children.
NEB / RC / WD
01-May-2000 06:32 AM EDT (01-May-2000 1032 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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