| Malaysian officials scrap meeting
with Philippine negotiator JOLO, Philippines, Aug 7 (AFP) -
Top Malaysian officials
cancelled a meeting with chief Philippines negotiator Roberto Aventajado on Sunday,
further delaying the release of three of their nationals among 17 hostages held by Muslim
gunmen here.
Aventajado was in nearby
Zamboanga city to meet former Sabah minister Yong Teck Lee and Malaysian deputy education
minister Datu Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin but was told they could not make it.
There was no official reason
given for the cancellation, but aides said the Malaysians wanted to meet Aventajado
separately.
The meeting was moved back to
Tuesday which meant the three Malaysians among the captives held by the Abu Sayyaf group
in Jolo island would not be freed until then, Aventajado told reporters before leaving for
Manila.
"The release of the
Malaysians has been delayed because of their absence. Nothing will happen until
Tuesday," Aventajado said.
He said he has relayed his
"disappointment through a private channel" to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad and urged him to "talk to these officials to get their acts together."
Aventajado was to have
discussed with Lee and Shamsuddin the possibility of setting up "mango, orange and
coffee plantations" in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Talipao town in exchange for the
Malaysian captives.
The plantations are to be
included under a "livelihood package" for the rebels, although sources have said
the rebels were asking 15 million pesos (340,900 dollars) for each of the Malaysians.
Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang,
alias Commander Robot, last week also offered to free two Filipino hostages along with the
three Malaysians.
Aventajado earlier said if an
agreement was reached between him and the Malaysian officials, the five hostages could be
freed as early as on Monday.
The five were among the 21
Asian and European hostages abducted by Abu Sayyaf gunmen from a Malaysian resort in April
and brought across the border by boat to Jolo.
The group later seized
journalists covering the hostage crisis.
Six Malaysians and an ailing
German woman from among the original group were released as well as three Filipinos
abducted in March from nearby Basilan island.
A German reporter and two
Filipino broadcast journalists abducted while covering the crisis were also freed, but a
crew of three French television reporters is still being held.
The Abu Sayyaf now hold five
French nationals, a Franco-Lebanese woman, two Finns, two South Africans, two Germans,
three Malaysians and two Filipinos.
An armed gang allied with the
Abu Sayyaf also abducted three Filipino construction workers last week.
Aventajado said he would to
meet European ambassadors in Manila on Monday, to inquire about programs reportedly being
planned by their governments for the rebels.
He said he told Commander Robot
to discuss the fate of the European hostages alongside the Asians.
"I told Robot, why don't
we work with the Europeans in parallel with the Malaysians," Aventajado said.
"I have convinced them
(Abu Sayyaf), that the talks should be universal, involving all hostages," Aventajado
said.
Sources close to the
negotiations have said millions of pesos were paid to secure the freedom of some of the
hostages, a claim repeatedly denied by Aventajado and the governments involved.
Aventajado said he asked Robot
"not to kidnap anybody while negotiations are ongoing."
The rebel chief was willing to
"release the Europeans ahead of the Malaysians" if their governments agreed on a
livelihood project similar to that offered by the Malaysians, Aventajado said without
elaborating.
"If ever an agreement is
reached (among the European governments), it's possible the earliest will be
Wednesday," he said.
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