Rebels Mum on Request to Free 2 Ill Hostages Held in Philippines

Officials met today with Muslim rebels holding 21 mostly foreign hostages, reestablishing contact with the guerrillas after a military blunder scuttled planned talks a day earlier.

Presidential advisor Robert Aventajado said a team of government emissaries were meeting the rebels at an undisclosed location on Jolo island, about 600 miles south of Manila, the capital.

A planned meeting between government negotiators and rebel leaders fell through Thursday after soldiers mistakenly patrolled in an area near a coastal highway where the two teams held an initial session a day earlier.

Negotiators had asked that the guerrillas release a Frenchman and a German woman. The Abu Sayyaf rebels promised to deliver their response Thursday but apparently were spooked by the military activity, Aventajado said.

Islamic cleric Ibrahim Ghazali, said the military activity undercut his assurances to the rebels, and he was leaving the negotiating team.

The rebels want to be reimbursed for what it cost them to kidnap and hold their hostages, one negotiator said Thursday.

The Abu Sayyaf did not specify a figure for expenses, which included renting horses, purchasing food and hiring guards. But the negotiator said the two sides might agree on about $1,700 per hostage.

The Philippine government has a no-ransom policy, but it often pays for “food and lodging.”