French hostages released by midweek
2000-09-03 09:09
Drusenheim, France - Two French hostages still being held in the southern Philippines could be released on Wednesday or Thursday, the father of former hostage Sonia Wendling, released last weekend, said on Saturday.
The announcement followed a statement made earlier by the Philippines' chief government negotiator Roberto Aventajado that the six remaining European hostages held by Muslim extremists in
Jolo will likely be freed next week, following the return of Libyan
mediator Rajab Azzarouq.
Citing an anonymous source from the Philippines, Jean Wendling said
the release of French TV journalists Jean le Garrec, 46, and Roland
Madura, 49, was imminent.
"As for the other Western hostages, there is no exact date, but
they should be released in pairs and by nationality," he added.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine told the Paris Sunday
newspaper Journal du Dimanche that his government would do
everything it could to secure the release of all the remaining
hostages.
Asked about the involvement of Libyan mediators, Vedrine said it
had been a German initiative, and had "no link" with France's
normalisation of relations with Tripoli.
"We didn't negotiate anything," Vedrine said.
The European hostages still held by the Abu Sayyaf gunmen are three
Frenchmen, two Finns and a German.
A spokesperson for France 2, the employer of the two French
journalists, said that he has received no indication of an imminent
release. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA