Philippine troops search for hostages after taking most of rebel stronghold

The 21 hostages seized by Muslim extremists from a Malaysian resort a week ago lack food, are crowded into a single bamboo hut, and several have diarrhea because of impure drinking water, said a person who saw them Saturday.

The hostages, including 10 foreign tourists, had not eaten at midafternoon Saturday, although their captors promised food later in the day, said Arlyn de la Cruz, a freelance journalist with close ties to the captors.

"They are living in a small hut with no toilet," she said. "They are not healthy. They are weak."

Some cried and asked for food and bottled water, she said.

The hostages include tourists from Germany, France, South Africa, Finland, Lebanon and resort workers from the Philippines and Malaysia.

Some had injuries on their feet and legs, apparently because they had to walk over rough terrain to the hut, in a mountainous area of Talipao on Sulu Island in the southern Philippines.

Some wore only bathing suits when they were abducted on April 23 from Malaysia's Sipadan Island, a diving resort about an hour by boat from Sulu.

De la Cruz said the captors were Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatists, who have been blamed for numerous kidnappings and attacks in the southern Philippines.

Jamasali Abdurahman, a Muslim official who met Friday with representatives of the kidnappers, said they gave him three demands and would present him a fuller list later Saturday that could include a ransom demand.

Friday's demands were for a return of barter trading to the semge fishing boats in the area to protect local fishers, and full implementation of a 1976 agreement for a 13-province autonomous region, he said.

Jamasali, an official of a four-province Muslim semiautonomous region that includes Sulu, met with the emissaries on behalf of Nur Misuari, a former Muslim rebel leader named negotiator by President Joseph Estrada.

De la Cruz said she walked two hours to the hut where the hostages were held.

A group of journalists who attempted to travel through Talipao on Saturday were forced to turn back by armed men who fired in the air and surrounded their cars.

Police say the kidnappers asked villagers to act as lookouts in exchange for a share of any ransom money.

One of the hostages, Carel Strydom from South Africa, was permitted to talk to DXRZ Radio. In comments dictated by someone whispering next to him, Strydom said they were all in good health and asked the United Nations to tell the Philippine government to stop its military actions against the rebels.

Galib Andang, an Abu Sayyaf commander holding the tourists, said on DXRZ on Friday night that the rebels would talk only with ambassadors from the hostages' countries.

National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre refused Saturday to remove Misuari.

Troops, meanwhile, were attacking an Abu Sayyaf stronghold in neighboring Basilan province Saturday in an attempt to rescue 27 other hostages, including many children, who have been held there for nearly six weeks.

While both kidnappings have been blamed on the Abu Sayyaf, they may not be directly related, since parts of the group are only loosely connected, officials say.

Abu Ahmad, spokesman for the Basilan rebels, said in a radio interview that the tourists would be beheaded if their ambassadors refused to negotiate.

It was not clear how much say Abu Ahmad's group has with the Sulu group.