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Hostage Negotiators Suspend Talks |
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June 13, 2000
MANILA, JUNE 12 (AP) - The government has decided to suspend negotiations for several days for a cooling-off period with Muslim rebels holding 21 mostly foreign hostages on a southern Philippine island, an official said Monday.
On Saturday, angry Abu Sayyaf rebels demanded that chief government negotiator Robert Aventajado be replaced for not ruling out a military rescue if talks with the rebels break down. They demanded to negotiate instead with presidential executive secretary Ronaldo Zamora.
"We decided we are going to take 3-4 days off" to review the situation, Zamora said Monday. "Then we will see what has to be done. Basically we decided yesterday it may be a good idea to let things cool off, for us to examine these new demands they have made."
The rebels also divided the hostages into two groups to discourage any rescue attempt. The 10 Caucasian hostages plus a Filipino woman have been moved to a mountainous area about one kilometer (half a mile) from the remaining Asian hostages, police say.
"It is a sensitive and somewhat dangerous situation right now," said Press Secretary Ricardo Puno. "There's a certain unpredictability about the Abu Sayyaf at this point."
The Abu Sayyaf are holding three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos.
The hostages were seized April 23 from a Malaysian diving resort and brought to Jolo, an island at the southern tip of the Philippines.
The Abu Sayyaf are the smaller but more extreme of two rebel groups fighting for an independent Islamic state in the impoverished southern Philippines.
In two days of negotiations Friday and Saturday, the rebels refused to abandon their demand for an independent nation, negotiators said.
The government has repeatedly ruled out any breakup of the Philippines.
The rebels are also demanding the protection of traditional fishing grounds from large trawlers, many of which are foreign-owned, and the formation of a commission to examine the problems of Filipino Muslims living in neighboring Malaysia. They are also expected to demand a large ransom. |