AL-QAEDA-LINKED Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the Philippines are refusing to free foreign hostages but the militants have no immediate plans to harm them, a spokesman for another Muslim rebel group says.
Hundreds of rebels of the Moro National Liberation Front, which signed an autonomy deal with the government in 1996, are near Patikul on southern Jolo island to negotiate the release of hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in its jungle lairs.
Abu Sayyaf militants are believed to be holding two European birdwatchers, a Japanese treasure hunter, a Jordanian journalist, a Malaysian man and at least two Filipinos hostage.
The Moro rebels are mainly found in rural villages on Jolo, where the smaller but more violent Abu Sayyaf also has a presence.
Moro rebel commander Khabir Malik says his group is seeking freedom for the hostages to help the government clean up the image of Jolo, a poor Muslim region where the Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for bombings, high-profile kidnappings for ransom and beheadings, mainly about a decade ago.
US-backed military offensives have crippled the Abu Sayyaf in recent years but it remains a national security threat. Washington has blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organisation.
Malik said he met an Abu Sayyaf militant, Jul-Asman Sawadjaan, to seek the release initially of a Jordanian journalist and two Filipinos, believed to be held in Patikul's jungles since June last year.
However, the extremists showed no sign they would free their captives soon, Malik said.
Other Abu Sayyaf commanders are believed to be separately holding two European birdwatchers, a Malaysian man and a Japanese treasure hunter in Jolo's jungles.
Malik said the Moro forces could consider other options - including a rescue operation and armed confrontation with the hostage-takers - to secure the captives' freedom."
Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said the Moro rebels were acting on their own but added he recently convened a meeting of a provincial crisis committee to be prepared for any possible clashes between the two rebel movements.
The Moro commanders, he said, would not be permitted to take any step that would compromise the safety of the hostages.
"There is no crisis now but we have to be ready if one erupts," Tan said.
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