8 August 2000 Squabbles among Malaysian officials have stalled the release of three of their nationals held by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, Manila's chief negotiator said yesterday. He said he had to seek the help of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to resolve the problem. The three Malaysian captives are among the group of 21 mostly foreign hostages seized by fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf rebels from a Malaysian diving resort on April23 and taken to Jolo island in the southern Philippines. The rebels have freed six Malaysians and a German in the group but have abducted others around Jolo, so that they now hold at least 29 captives.
Manila officially denies talking ransom with the rebels.
The offer to pay the ransom demanded for Marie Michele Moarbes' freedom by the rebels was made by Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Mr Hoss told reporters. Meanwhile, a Philippine military officer said Indonesia had been asked to investigate the presence of a number of Indonesian passports found at a Muslim separatist guerrilla camp overrun by government forces. The travel documents were left behind by Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces when they abandoned the camp last month. The disclosure followed the Jakarta bombing of the Philippine ambassador's residence last week that killed two people and injured 21 others, including the ambassador. Philippine authorities are investigating possible links between the MILF and Indonesian separatists, who they think could have been responsible for the bombings.