French Journalists Escape Rebel Captors in Philippines

M A N I L A, Philippines, Sept. 20, 2000 -- Two French televisionjournalists were to fly home from the Philippines todayafter escaping from Muslim rebel captors under cover ofdarkness and spending a nerve-racking night hiding in thejungles under pouring rain.

They were among 19 hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf rebelson the southern island of Jolo and said they slipped away inthe confusion as the guerrillas fled under the onslaught of amilitary assault.

Local residents said they feared scores of civilians hadbeen killed in the relentless bombardment of rebel bases, whichentered the fifth day today.

Reports of Wedding Party Killed

One woman, fleeing Jolo to nearby Zamboanga, said 10 peopleattending a wedding party were killed in a direct hit.

Earlier in the day, one man was killed and six were woundedwhen a bomb exploded on a ferry at Zamboanga, the military’sstaging area for its assault. Police said the victim appearedto have been holding the bomb when it went off prematurely.

Jean-Jacques Le Garrec, 46, and Roland Madura, 49, lookedwell, happy but tense as they relived their ordeal at a pressconference in Manila, sitting next to President Joseph Estrada,beaming from the boost their fortuitous return has given him.

Estrada said he was confident the other hostages would soonbe released, including an American, Jeffrey Schilling.

“There are serious and promising efforts to seek therelease of all the hostages,” armed forces chief General AngeloReyes told the news conference at Manila’s presidential palace.

“The directive of the president is we should finish the jobtomorrow or latest within one week.”

Le Garrec said a group of Filipino evangelists also takenhostage were safe and in good shape, although their leader,Wilde Almeda, was weak from 40 days of fasting.

The other captives, held by separate rebel factions, arethree Malaysians and another Filipino.

Civilians Hit

Le Garrec, a cameraman for France-2 television, later toldReuters he and Madura would have been freed on Saturday if themilitary had not launched the assault. He said as far as heknew no rebel was hit by the bombardment although manycivilians were.

“It was definitely programmed for last Saturday and if itwas not for the military intervention, we would have beenfreed,” he said.

“As far as the Abu Sayyaf group is concerned...I think itwas just getting money and banditry. But I am afraid that thevery strong military reaction was just giving them some reasonto show that the way they are treated is something really verybad.

“The bombing has not made one member of Abu Sayyaf bewounded. It’s just the civil population that is hurt by thebombings, it is a reaction not against the Abu Sayyaf butagainst the Muslim population of the island.”

The government has said seven guerrillas and four civilianshave been killed in the assault on the Abu Sayyaf, which claimsto be fighting for an independent Muslim state in the south ofthe Roman Catholic Philippines.

The military came upon the two Frenchmen on a road in thesouthwest of Jolo earlier today.

They were captured on July 9 on Jolo when they went up tothe rebel lair to interview Abu Sayyaf leaders who were at thattime holding several Westerners and others hostages.

Most have been released, and the rebels have receivedmillions of dollars in ransom.

Le Garrec said the assault, however, aided their escape.

“We took the opportunity of the military pressure...imposedon the Abu Sayyaf group [which forced them] to move all thetime and especially to move at night. We took the opportunityof last night’s move when we left at seven [p.m.] from the placewe were. And when we got across a road, we took the opportunityof the deep darkness to...escape.

“Everybody was afraid because getting across the road, wecould be seen by the military... In that big mess, we took theopportunity of jumping on the side. We hid for some minutes andafter that we ran on the road.”

Jungle and Rain

He said they spent the night hiding in the jungle underpouring rain and stopped a military truck in the morning, whichbrought them to safety.

When asked what his plans were, Le Garrec told Reuters: “Iam going to take it easy for a while. I [will] try to get sometime for myself and my family but I don’t think this is theexact program they have organized.”

The two were to fly out of Manila later tosday toFrankfurt from where they were to be taken on a Frenchgovernment flight to Paris.

The hostage crisis has dragged on for almost five monthsand humiliated Estrada’s administration. His decision to sendin the military was criticized, notably by French PresidentJacques Chirac, because of the potential danger to thehostages.

Estrada, who called Chirac’s comments interference, said hecalled the French leader to inform him of the escape.

“I want to thank the [Filipino] people for the full supportthey have given me in my decision to adopt the militarysolution,” Estrada said.