Philippine attack on rebel base fuels fury in Paris

A military assault launched by the Philippine army against Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern island of Jolo at the weekend has endangered the lives of 22 hostages and created tension between Paris, Manila and Washington. There is fury in Paris that President Chirac was not informed - and a growing suspicion that the Filipinos opened their attack at the request of the US.

The Abu Sayyaf group holds one American, two Frenchmen, three Malaysians and 16 Filipinos. As the army offensive, with bombers, helicopter gunships and artillery, continued a second day yesterday, Paris again expressed fears for the safety of two French citizens, Mr Jean-Jacques Le Garrec and Mr Roland Madura, a cameraman and soundman for the state-owned television station France 2, who were kidnapped on July 9th.

Privately, French officials blame Washington for the attack on the rebels. The US Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, admitted that - unlike Paris - he was informed in advance of the offensive when he met President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines in Manila on Friday night. A French government source said US forces based in the Philippines provided a pilotless reconnaissance drone to fly over Jolo on the eve of the offensive.

The US disapproved of Libyan mediation to obtain the freedom of Western hostages in Jolo because it was leading to diplomatic rehabilitation for Col Moammar Gadafy. Washington is also concerned by instability on Indonesian and Filipino islands. One hostage, Mr Jeffrey Schilling, is a US citizen, but the French source said US authorities believe he is a Muslim convert and do not care about his safety.

When they met in New York at the UN millennium summit, Mr Chirac obtained assurances from Mr Estrada that he would not take military action against the Jolo kidnappers. But Mr Estrada has come under increasing pressure to act since three more Malaysians were kidnapped on September 10th. Filipino newspapers call Abu Sayyaf "vermin that must be exterminated" regardless of the threat to the lives of the hostages. Since last March, more than 100 people have been taken hostage by the group, but most have been released for ransom.

In Paris, the Elysee presidential palace reacted angrily to news of the assault by up to 4,000 Philippines troops at dawn on Saturday. "In view of the gravity of the situation on Jolo . . . the President of the Republic began trying to contact President Estrada from 2.30 on Saturday morning," the Elysee spokeswoman, Ms Catherine Colonna, said. But Mr Estrada was "unavailable", so Mr Chirac "let him know through our ambassador of his intense concern and his disagreement with this initiative, which is a danger to the safety of the hostages and contradicts the conclusions of their recent meeting in New York."

At a press conference at Philippines army headquarters in Zamboanga yesterday, the chief of staff, Gen Angelo Reyes, said he believed all the hostages were still alive because "there had been no reports from the field to indicate that any of them had been casualties." He deduced this from field and intelligence sources, he said, and "the fact that [the kidnappers] are fleeing and had not left any of the hostages as a casualty". But the French Foreign Ministry said it had no reliable information about the situation of the two French hostages.

The Philippines Defence Ministry said the army had killed six rebels and captured 20, and that two rebel camps it took over were abandoned. It denied reports that scores of civilians on the island of 400,000 have been killed.