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Officials reassure hostages' families

The families of three Taiwanese fishermen held hostage by Somali rebels cried for help yesterday as government officials visited their homes for the first time since the incident took place almost three weeks ago.

After telling the families that all the fishermen are safe at present, Michel Lu (呂慶龍), spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said that the government has had some positive developments in negotiations, but he admitted that there are still many problems to solve in the ongoing talks with the rebel militia.

The officials' trip to console the fishermen's families, living in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, came after Chuang Chi-yi (莊啟義), owner of one of the boats hijacked, Chung Yi 218, paid a visit to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Saturday.

"We came to pass on the concerns of President Chen, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and foreign minister Mark Chen (陳唐山)," Lu said.

With the negotiations still underway, sources report that the conflict between the Somali rebel militia and government troops seemed to be on the verge of flaring up again, leaving the crew members in a very dangerous predicament.

Ni Hui-ling (倪惠玲), the boat owner of the hijacked Hsin Lien Fa 36, told reporters that Somali government soldiers had asked them late last week not to contact the rebel militia anymore, as it might disturb the government's negotiations with the rebels.

"The crew members have become bargaining chips for the rebel militia. I have not had any contact with them for about three days now," Ni said.

Lu, talking about the situation in Somalia, reiterated that the priority of the government is to ensure the safety of the crew members.

"In a country which has been at war for such a long time, with conflicts between the government and rebel militia, as well as between rival militia groups. In view of this, you must understand that we have to tread very carefully," Lu said.

"The government won't respond to media pressure, but will move cautiously to try and ensure the safe release of the crew members. We hope they can be released without conditions. If not, we hope to reduce the sum of the ransom through negotiations," Lu said.

Apart from the three Taiwanese officers, the hijacked ships have 44 other crew members, including 14 Indonesians, 14 Chinese, 12 Filipinos and four Vietnamese.

The ransom demanded was US$500,000 for each boat and its crew.

In related news, it was reported by the Hong Kong based Wen Wei Po yesterday that Kaohsiung city government has sought help from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) through its counterpart, the Strait Exchange Foundation.

The Mainland Affairs Council rebutted the claim, saying that the government has spared no effort to settle the problem, but it hadn't asked ARATS for help.
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