>Libya: > >News and Views > >LIBYA Sunday, 20 August, 2000: The Libyan organisation involved in >negotiations for the release of hostages held in Jolo, in the Philippines, >issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Manila goverment Saturday threatening to end >its mediation. The Qadhafi Charity Organisation, headed by Seif al-Islam son >of the Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, warned in a statement that "after >leading the last attempt with the Philippines government, if there is no >positive and concrete development in the next 48 hours, it will pull out of >negotiations (with the kidnappers from the Islamist Abu Sayyaf group). The >withdrawal will also concern the group's "officials present in the Philippines >since the beginning of the crisis, its plane and the medical team in place for >more than a week" to bring the hostages to Tripoli after their release, the >statement said. [AFP] Sunday, 20 August, 2000: A chartered Libyan aircraft >which landed in Cebu city Saturday expecting to pick up Western hostages >released after months in captivity was to return empty to Manila after >negotiations collapsed at the 11th hour. An aide to Roberto Aventajado, the >chief government negotiator in the four-month hostage crisis, said the >Russian-made plane would return to Manila following the setback in talks with >the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The Libyan aircraft had been under tight guard >since arriving here at the General Benito Ebuen Airbase in central Cebu city >on Saturday. [AFP] Sunday, 20 August, 2000: A high level delegation of Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA) headed by its Technical Director/Manager Training, Masood Ghaffar, on Friday visited the PIA Training Centre in Karachi, Pakistan. The three-day visit came at the invitation of Principal PTC to discuss the training needs of LAA employees. Besides the Training centre, the LAA delegation also visited Engineering and Maintenance shops facilities for on-line jobs training. At the end of delegation's three-day visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with PIA to provide training to LAA personnel. [APP] Sunday, 20 August, 2000: Lebanese Water Resources Minister Soleiman Traboulsi, who came to Libya to greet a released Franco-Lebanese hostage Marie-Michele Moarbes, announced Saturday he was leaving after negotiations with her captors in the Philippines collapsed. "The situation is the following: the release of the hostages has been postponed until a later date," said Traboulsi, adding that he will leave Libya on Sunday. "Time is required to negotiate and overcome the difficulties that have arisen," he said. Moarbes's mother, who is also in Libya, said she would leave with the minister. [AFP] Sunday, 20 August, 2000: A big cake, red and white roses, mountains of food and a welcome party on board a jet would have greeted 12 Western hostages had they been freed Saturday by Muslim guerrillas from a Philippine jungle. Last-minute snags, however, caused negotiators to fail to win the release of the foreigners along with 12 Filipino hostages who have been held by the guerrillas on the impoverished southern island of Jolo. A Russian Ilyushin plane acquired by Libya was waiting at Cebu airport in the Philippines to take the 12 Western hostages to Tripoli to meet with Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. ``There was supposed to have been a big celebration on board,'' said a diplomat who was to have traveled with the hostages to Tripoli. ``Of course, everybody was disappointed.'AP] _______________________________________ 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] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
