Philippines rebels negotiate over hostages

Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines are seeking guarantees of a safe passage in exchange for 81 hostages.

The army said the guerrillas are free to go if they give up their heavy weapons but they have refused to disarm and have threatened to kill their captives.

Negotiations are taking place to resolve the impasse as the estimated 130-150 rebels prepare for the night.

One heavily armed group held the hostages, bound together in a house outside Zamboanga town, while another continued to battle troops at a sprawling government compound nearby.

The military said the intense fighting had killed 25 guerillas and one soldier. An unknown number of civilians had been injured.

The rebels, loyal to renegade Governor Nur Misuari, belong to a faction of a separatist Muslim group, the Moro National Liberation Front, that fought the government until a peace deal was struck five years ago.

Elections were held yesterday to replace Misuari, and the army told his backers to leave Cabatangan.

Major Reno Tolentino, of the Zamboanga military detachment, said the fighting started when the rebels attacked an army outpost near the complex yesterday.

Florita Orquito, a 43-year-old hostage who escaped amid the fighting, said the rebels moved quietly into neighbourhoods near the complex and took hostages before the fighting began.

Misuari was arrested on Saturday in neighbouring Malaysia as he tried to evade a manhunt by more than 6,000 soldiers on the southern Philippine island of Jolo.