Police Offices in Manila Attacked

Police headquarters in Manila came under grenade attack Sunday as President Joseph Estrada’s top security advisors examined the demands of rebels holding 21 mostly foreign hostages.

Fears that a dozen journalists had also been captured by the Muslim guerrillas subsided after most of the reporters returned to their base.

Elsewhere, 183 Filipinos were freed after a day of captivity that began when rebels withdrew from a village they had seized.

In Manila, police were put on alert after a rocket-propelled grenade exploded 50 yards from the national police chief’s home at police headquarters. No one was hurt, and no one claimed responsibility.

Three negotiators who Saturday met with leaders of the rebels holding the 21 hostages arrived in Manila to present the militants’ demands to Cabinet ministers. One negotiator said the talks were “very relaxed” and the demands “quite reasonable.”