Hostage Talks in Philippines Break Down

Negotiators came tantalizingly close to winning the freedom of 24 hostages from a remote jungle camp Saturday, but the talks failed when the Muslim rebel abductors accused the Philippine military of preparing to attack once the four-month kidnapping ordeal ends.

Libyan mediators who brokered a deal for the hostage release blamed the Philippine military for the breakdown and threatened to withdraw their envoys if there were not “tangible, positive developments” in the coming 48 hours.

The breakdown deeply frustrated negotiators and diplomats from the hostages’ home countries, who had flown to the violent southern Philippines with high hopes of a release after three Malaysians and a Filipino were freed Friday.

Several Finnish envoys wept when they heard that the negotiating team had left the Abu Sayyaf rebel camp on Jolo island empty-handed after the kidnappers offered to release only two hostages.

“We regret to announce that our mission has been unsuccessful,” said a grim Robert Aventajado, the chief Philippine negotiator. “We have to reassess the situation.”

The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas refused a demand by Philippine President Joseph Estrada that all hostages be freed in one group. Instead, they insisted that the captives be released in two stages to reduce the risk of an army assault, said negotiator and former Libyan Ambassador Rajab Azzarouk.

The Abu Sayyaf group had been holding the three Malaysians, six French, two Germans, two Finns, two South Africans and 13 Filipinos in primitive mountain huts.

Thirteen of the remaining hostages were among a larger group abducted April 23 from a Malaysian diving resort. The rebels later seized three French journalists and a dozen Filipino Christian evangelists.