'Crisis committee' to handle Sayyaf negotiations

The government will form a "crisis management committee" that will spearhead negotiations with fundamentalist Muslim rebels holding hostage at least 42 students, teachers and a Catholic priest in the southern island province of Basilan.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado stressed that the government negotiators should insist on a no-ransom policy.

National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre said the committee will be made up of local government officials, but would fall under his direct supervision in negotiating with the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

The Abu Sayyaf extremist guerrillas stormed a Catholic school and a government-run high school last Sunday in Basilan after a failed attack on an Army outpost.

They seized at least 45 students, teachers and the priest, but freed a pregnant woman and two boys on Wednesday.

"We will provide all the necessary guidance and advice to the provincial crisis management committee to see to it that the primordial concern of safety of the hostages will be undertaken, and we will proceed to the ground with myself as representative," Aguirre said.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Ahmad said yesterday they will release 10 more captives in exchange for 200 sacks of rice, canned goods and medicines to be delivered to the rebel hideout by local Red Cross representatives and the Roman Catholic church.

Ahmad relayed the demand to Basilan Rep. Abdulgani Salapuddin who initiated talks with the rebels late Wednesday.

Ahmad also urged the military to call off pursuit operations, warning that it would only endanger the lives of the hostages who would be "killed like goats and sent to the town."

One of the captured teachers, Erlinda Manuel, told a local radio station many of the hostages, especially the children, were suffering from fever and flu and badly needed medicines.

"We also need food, clothes and other supplies," the teacher said by telephone from the rebels' jungle hideout.

To assure the people that the hostages are safe, Ahmad allowed four others to speak on the radio. They were teachers Annabel Mendoza and Lida Ajon, and students Jay-Jay Raimbonanza, 10, and Bon Adolf Sihalbo, 12.

Salapuddin said he would ask the defense department and the military to halt the troops' offensive to allow for negotiations for the safe release of the captives.

"Rescue operations must be stopped during the negotiations and until all the hostages have been released," Salapuddin said.

Mercado asserted, however, that the military would not object to negotiations being led by civilians, but stressed that the government's no-ransom policy should be upheld.

For his part, regional Army chief Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya said Salapuddin should coordinate first with the military before starting the negotiations with the rebels.

"We will not fall into a trap where the rebels would use the negotiations to delay the release of all the captives," Abaya stressed.

The Abu Sayyaf attack on the two schools in Basilan came as government forces were trying to flush out guerrillas of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in mainland Mindanao where sporadic fighting has been raging since Wednesday last week, leaving scores of people dead or wounded.

Some 80 MILF rebels ambushed an Army patrol in Lanao del Norte, wounding three soldiers. -- Mike Frialde, Jess Diaz, Sandy Araneta, Alvin Tarroza, John Unson, Roel Parreño, AFP report

Visiting Kauswagan town in Lanao del Norte late Wednesday, President Estrada ordered the military to crush the armed struggle in the island. "If we must smash them, we will smash them all. What they are doing is too much."

The President said while the peace talks with the MILF would continue, the military would press its offensive against criminals, kidnappers and terrorists.

Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera supported the President's position on the insurgency issue.

"I have always abhorred violence, but there are times when you need to take off the kid gloves against recalcitrant elements," Herrera said.

He claimed the MILF has been taking advantage of the peace process to encroach on civilian communities and raid Army and police detachments. "While we are holding peace talks, they continue to kidnap and occupy small towns to the detriment of the poor people."

In other developments, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) batted for the continuance of peaceful negotiations between the government and the MILF, and twitted Mr. Estrada for ordering an all-out offensive against the communist and Muslim.

CBCP secretary general and spokesman Bishop Nestor Cariño said Mr. Estrada's tough stance could weaken the peace talks.

Cariño also revealed that Bishop Romulo de la Cruz has been designated to negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf for the safe release of the hostages in Basilan.

The Bishop-Ulama Forum of Western Mindanao, a religious organization of Christian and Muslim leaders, also appealed to the Abu Sayyaf to immediately free their hostages.

In a manifesto, the group also asked the military to call off any offensive that might endanger the lives of the captives.

Meanwhile, sporadic clashes between government forces and MILF guerrillas continued in Lanao del Norte and Maguindanao provinces.

The Armed Forces' Southern Command (Southcom) said at least three soldiers were wounded in the fighting in Sapad and Linamon towns in Lanao del Norte and in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Cpl. Emmanuel Nacyfuna, Pfc. Jerry Valdez and Pfc. Renante Adolfo.

Southcom spokesman Col. Hillary Atendido claimed that undetermined number of MILF fighters were slain in the skirmishes.

Some 80 MILF guerrillas clashed with elements of the Army's 26th Infantry Battalion.

The fighting took place a few hours after a one-hour encounter in Linamon, involving troops from the Army's 1st Infantry Division and some 100 MILF rebels.