Philippines Government in Quandary on Hostages

The Philippines government says the tourist hostages held on one of its southern islands are safe, but the ill-starred travelers could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Islamic separatist group holding the hostages vowed to decapitate two of the tourists — seized a week ago at an exclusive diving resort off Malaysia — unless the Philippines army withdraws troops surrounding the area where they're being held. But the Philippines government says retreat is out of the question. Besides having to cope with being held hostage by a fanatical organization fighting to stave off extinction at the hands of the government forces, the erstwhile vacationers are suffering from deteriorating health from a diet of rice and rainwater and growing anxiety of dying in a shoot-out. Although the government has appointed a former commander of a rival rebel group to negotiate with the abductors, it is holding to a tough security line, and engaged a group of rebels in a firefight Monday at the periphery of the camp where the hostages are being held.

In an almost surreal dimension of the standoff, while rebels and government troops square off almost within spitting distance of one another, TV crews and photographers have had access to the hostages, showing images of the 10 captives from Europe, Lebanon, South Africa and Malaysia pleading for the Philippines army to back off and negotiate a solution. That might be difficult, however, since the Abu Sayyaf group holding the hostages hasn't made a clear set of demands, prompting the government's appointed mediator to threaten to withdraw.

The group, which has boasted of links with Osama bin Laden, only a month ago seized some 50 students from schools on the island of Basilian and demanded that Manila secure the release by Washington of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and other convicted terrorists held in U.S. prisons. In this instance, they're assumed to want money, and the Philippines government isn't interested in paying. But the multinational makeup of the hostages has raised the pressure on Manila to do whatever it can to avoid bloodshed. With no solution in sight a week after the latest hostage drama began, and government forces having overrun the Abu Sayyaf base on Basilian (and failed to find the student hostages), obstacles to a peaceful outcome may be mounting.