Libya: News and Views LIBYA Saturday, 19 August, 2000: Top Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding hostages in the southern Philippines have demanded asylum in Libya, fearing they will be hunted down by the military when they release their captives, officials were quoted as saying Friday. Ghalib "Commander Robot" Andang and Mujib Susukan want to board a Libyan flight out of the Philippines, the Philippine Star said quoting sources close to the official negotiating panel. The development came as sources close to the negotiations said that the Muslim extremists freed three Malaysian hostages. [AFP] Saturday, 19 August, 2000: Libya expects all the hostages held in the Philippines to be released by Sunday at the latest, a foreign ministry spokesman said here Friday. "All of the hostages will be freed," Hasuna al-Shaush told reporters. Shaush also said Libya has received no requests for political asylum from members of Abu Sayyaf, the Islamist group that is holding 28 Western and Filipino hostages in the southern Philippines. Two leaders of the separatist group had asked Libya for asylum, fearing Manila's military would strike them as soon as the hostages were released, Filipino officials were quoted by the press as saying earlier. [AFP] Saturday, 19 August, 2000: Libya has agreed to pay $25 million as the price for the release of hostages held by Moslem rebels in the Philippines, a Western diplomat told reporters on Friday. "The Libyans would pay this $25 million and there is a deal on that," the diplomat said without elaborating as to whether the amount was direct ransom to the kidnappers or part of aid reportedly to be funneled through a Libyan charitable foundation to finance development projects in the Philippines. The Western diplomat said Libya was willing to provide the money in order to win publicity for its role and ensure European Union backing for it to attend a European Mediterranean summit in November. "Libya wants to participate in the European Mediterranean summit," the Western diplomat said. [FOX] Saturday, 19 August, 2000: Liberia's Vice President Moses Z. Blah says his government is satisfied with the "people to people" diplomacy the government of Libya is playing in the face of international isolation against Liberia. Mr. Blah spoke yesterday at his Capitol Hill office when the Libyan envoy, Mohammed Talbi presented him a set of computers and accessories as a gesture from his government. Vice President Blah said the Libyan envoy had been a good friend to him for a long time and that he was not surprised at his worth. He named the renovation of schools and health centers around the country as a clear demonstration of the Libyan government's willingness to contribute to the national reconstruction of Liberia. [Africa News] Saturday, 19 August, 2000: While a Libyan jet waits in the Philippines preparing for the triumphant return of western hostages, here in the Libyan capital residents know next to nothing about the international situation their government is working to defuse. None of Libya's six publications or its radio and television stations -- all of which are run by the government -- have mentioned Tripoli's diplomacy to free 28 hostages held in the southern Philippines. Libyans stopped on the street seemed to know nothing of the Libyan jet that has waited in Tripoli since Monday, nor of the involvement in negotiations of a charity run by Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's son, nor of the potential international benefits to Libya if its efforts are successful. "The blackout is normal in this country, where there is never any information on anything. Even if an airplane leaves the Philippines with hostages on board, they won't know," said a diplomat here. The only Libyans who know about Kadhafi's intervention are those who own satellite dishes or computers, giving them access to foreign media. But even Libyans in the know seem disinterested in the plight of hostages being held thousands of miles away. "Freedom would be great for the hostages. But they're using our money (for a ransom payment) and are doing this to put more of the limelight on Libya," said one young woman, who refused to give her name. [AFP] __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
