Hostages appeal for quick release

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 17, 2000

MANILA, July 14 Kyodo

One of the Western hostages being held by Muslim bandits in the southern Philippines has urged the Philippine government to find a quick solution to end the hostage crisis, Finland's Foreign Minister Errki Tuomioja said Friday.

"(The hostages) once again make a very strong appeal for their release and refer to the deteriorating conditions they are being held in," Tuomioja told a joint news conference after meeting with Philippine officials to discuss the hostage crisis.

Tuomioja, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine called on Philippine President Joseph Estrada, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and the government's chief negotiator Robert Aventajado.

Tuomioja said Risto Vahanen, one of the two Finn hostages, wrote an open letter to the media July 8.

"Please do your utmost to get us out of these inhuman conditions without delay, peacefully without force," said Vahanen in the letter, copies of which were distributed to the media.

Vahanen added, "Our mental condition is getting worse every day

and it is not far from one of us committing suicide in the nearest future."

He said the physical condition of the hostages "has worsened due to stress and lack of opportunities for exercise."

Tuomioja, Fischer and Vedrine on Thursday urged the Philippines not to use force in a hostage crisis in which their nationals are being held, and to find a quick solution into the matter.

The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf has been holding 20 of the 21 mostly Western hostages snatched from a diving resort off Borneo on April 23. One of the hostages, a Malaysian, was freed last month.

Still held are two French, three Germans, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese, eight Malaysians and two Filipinos.

The European foreign ministers ruled out paying any ransom to the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

"We will all remain in contact with (Philippine authorities), and remain in contact with one another until the end of this affair," said Vedrine.

Tuomioja said their series of meetings with Philippine officials helped them in understanding the complex nature of the hostage crisis.

The Abu Sayyaf, a radical 1,000-strong Muslim group, styles themselves as pro-independence fighters to similar to the larger Muslim secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but are regarded by most as bandits.

They have been blamed for a string of kidnap-for-ransom and bombings in the southern Philippines.