Sayyaf demands for hostages' release 'very reasonable'

"Very reasonable."

This was the assessment of former Libyan Ambassador Rajab Azzarouq regarding the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas' demands for the release of their 21 hostages, most of them foreigners.

Azzarouq, along with other members of the government negotiating panel, flew back to Manila yesterday to consult with President Estrada on the extremist Muslim rebels' conditions.

"Very reasonable... the political demands are reasonable," Azzarouq said upon arrival in Manila.

Farukh Hussain, another member of the negotiating team that met with the Abu Sayyaf rebels in a mountain lair in Sulu, also said the demands were "quite reasonable."

Hussain described the talks as "very relaxed."

Azzarouq said the Abu Sayyaf has demanded that government forces be pulled out from rebel-held areas.

Presidential Adviser Robert Aventajado, another member of the panel, said they hoped to fly back to Jolo, Sulu to meet anew with the Abu Sayyaf rebels who have been holding the 21 hostages since they were snatched in the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan on April 23.

The next meeting is expected to take place either tomorrow or Wednesday.

The captives consist of nine Malaysian resort workers, a German family of three, a South African couple, two Finns, a Lebanese woman, two French, and two Filipinos resort workers.

Hussain, a leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, said there was no mention of ransom during their initial round of talks.

But Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said the Abu Sayyaf also wanted "reimbursements" for the upkeep of the hostages, a euphemism for ransom.

The government negotiators had earlier expected to secure the release of Renate Wallert, a 57-year-old German teacher who was reportedly suffering from hypertension, and Frenchman Stephane Loisy who was afflicted with urinary tract infection.

Azzarouq said Wallert's condition was "very much improved" after taking medication brought by the negotiators.

Asked when Wallert might be set free, Azzarouq said she may be "released separately once we reach some kind of agreement."

Other conditions set for the release of the hostages were a ban on fishing by foreigners in the South, implementation of development projects, and recognition of the 1976 Tripoli agreement between the MNLF and the government.

The Tripoli pact provided for the creation of a Muslim autonomous region consisting of 13 provinces and several cities in the South.

However, the provision was voted down by the people in a plebiscite.

Only four provinces and one city were included in the autonomous region.

Meanwhile, combined elements of the local police and the military pressed their offensive against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who were still holding nine Filipino hostages in Basilan.

Lt. Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman for the military's Southern Command based in Zamboanga City, said the operations against the kidnappers in Basilan would continue until the last hostage has been freed.

"We have not given up on them. We still have our troops intact in that area. Our men are just careful because the lives of the hostages are at stake," Atendido said.

The hot pursuit operations continued even as the local police of Isabela town apprehended two suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels believed part of the kidnap group.

Basilan provincial police director Superintendent Armadul Pangambayan identified the suspects as Pepino and Pepito Buenbrazo, both of Barangay Calvario, Isabela.

Pangambayan said the Buenbrazos, who have pending robbery cases in Basilan, were being detained at the provincial jail in Isabela.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Asmad Salayudi said the hostages have been split into three groups in a bid to confuse the troops chasing the kidnappers.

Military intelligence reports indicated that the Basilan guerrillas were planning to join their comrades in Sulu who were holding the 21 mostly foreign hostages.

Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar alerted his militiamen to thwart the guerrillas' attempt to leave Basilan.

Akbar also said the family members of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani who were seized by a vigilante group led by Abdul Mijal would not be set free until the remaining nine hostages have been released.

Elbert de la Torre, father of Hazel Faith, 13, and Joesel Jane, 12, also said the Janjalanis should not be released by Mijal unless his children are already safe at home.

Two of the remaining nine hostages were identified as Teresita Academia and Erlinda Manuel, both teachers.

The kidnappers were reportedly asking for P500,000 ransom for the two teachers.

Meanwhile, eight of 12 foreign journalists who were reported missing while trying to reach the Abu Sayyaf lair in Jolo reportedly returned safely to the capital town yesterday morning, leaving four others still unaccounted for.

"Only four are missing as of now," Aventajado told reporters upon arrival in Manila.

It was reported earlier that the foreign newsmen were seized by the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and detained in their lair in Patikul town.

But reports reaching the military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo said the group was merely held up overnight at the rebel hideout.

The journalists were identified as Michell Scoot, Louis Francois Corruble and Gerard Ramirez of French Television Channel 1; Frederick Pasquette of French Television Channel 2; Jerome Frittel, Oliver Raube, Ricky Alvarez of Agence France Presse, Cyrile Payen of RTL, and Florence Compain of Le Figaro.

The group left Jolo for Patikul at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday aboard three vans, but were blocked by armed men wearing bonnets in Sitio Taytayan, in Barangay Kanumayan in Patikul.

The gunmen ordered the journalists to get off their vehicles and escorted them to their lair where the 21 hostages were being kept.

Fearing for their lives, the drivers of the vans who were instructed by the rebels to wait for their passengers, decided to leave for Jolo.

Military authorities expected the remaining three journalists to be back in Jolo yesterday afternoon.