Hostages: Malaysia may take part in talks

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, MAY 2. Malaysia today indicated that it might explore the option of participating in negotiations to secure the release of 21 international hostages, including 10 of its nationals, from abductors with suspected links to the Abu Sayyaf group of Muslim separatists in southern Philippines.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister, Mr. Hamid Albar, said today that his country's Inspector-General of Police was now in the Philippines for talks with his counterpart to resolve the crisis that began more than a week ago when the 21 persons were seized at the diving resort of Sipadan off the Sabah coastline. Based on the feedback from the Malaysian security official, Mr. Hamid would decide whether to catalyse the sluggish parleys in conjunction with the Filipino authorities.

Malaysia's keenness to free the hostages through negotiations was expressed in the context of Manila's doubts over the fruitfulness of `internationalising' the issue. Reports from southern Philippines spoke of the occurrence of a clash, said to be a chance encounter, between the Filipino security forces and the hostage-takers at a point near the latter's suspected hideout.

On a separate front, the whereabouts of a different group of all- Filipino hostages elsewhere in southern Philippines remained unclear until nightfall today. Fresh fighting between the Filipino troops and a separate group of Muslim militants, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was also reported today.

It was against this increasingly volatile background that the Malaysian Foreign Minister called for negotiations. He noted that the Sipadan raiders holding international hostages had not so far made any specific demand, though speculation was rife about their wish-list.

No role for OIC

Malaysia, which will host a ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference next month, said that neither the hostage crisis nor the guerilla rebellion by the Muslim separatists was a subject for intervention by the OIC.

The OIC's role ``does not extend to kidnapping'' for whatever purposes, the Malaysian Foreign Minister said. The OIC could play a role only in respect of a purely political issue and do so in the light of a precedent in regard to the Mindanao issue concerning the Philippines itself in the past, he pointed out.

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Section  : International
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