Philippines Rebels Release Two More

Muslim rebels released two Filipino journalists Saturday but did not say when they would free 29 other hostages, including 15 foreigners, held on a southern Philippine island.

Val Cuenca and Maan Macapagal of ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest TV network, were handed over in Patikul town, where they were abducted Monday on their way back from interviewing the rebels, government officials said.

After their release, the two were taken to a military camp in Jolo town and then flown to Zamboanga City, about 500 miles south of Manila.

Journalists in Jolo and Zamboanga, some of them teary-eyed, embraced the two and greeted each other with high fives.

"We're OK. We're OK," Cuenca said. He said their abductors did not mistreat them.

ABS-CBN said in a report announcing the release that no ransom was paid. Previously, about $4.2 million was paid to the rebels for the release of a German woman and six Malaysians despite the government's no-ransom policy, military officials said.

The hostages are being held by members of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, a loose collection of several hundred heavily armed rebels divided into several bands, each with different commanders.

The group, which is fighting for an independent Muslim nation in the southern Philippines, has been accused of banditry, kidnapping and numerous attacks on Christians in the impoverished south.

In April, the Abu Sayyaf abducted 21 people, mostly foreigners, from Sipadan, a nearby Malaysian diving resort. The German and the six Malaysians who were freed were members of that group. The rest are still being held.

Later, the rebels seized a German and three French journalists and 12 Filipino members of a Christian evangelical group. The German journalist was released Thursday.

Still in captivity are six French, three Malaysians, two Germans, two Finns, two South Africans and 14 Filipinos.

Chief government negotiator Robert Aventajado has urged all journalists to leave Jolo, warning that "everyone is fair game" for the rebels.

He said a go-between for the rebels told him the three remaining Malaysians may be freed next week and "the other foreigners would be released soon."

Elsewhere in the south Saturday, at least 12 Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and one militiaman were killed in two separate clashes, the military said. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is the larger of the two major separatist Muslim groups in the region.

"The hit-and-run attacks will continue because there is still no cease-fire agreement," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

President Joseph Estrada suspended peace talks June 30 after the MILF refused to accept two conditions: that it abandon its secessionist goal and stop terrorist attacks. Estrada, however, said his government is willing to expand autonomy for Filipino Muslims.

By AARON FAVILA