Estrada denies Germans' claim

Former president Joseph Estrada and former secretary for special affairs Roberto Aventajado have blamed a former Libyan ambassador for the payment of ransom to the Abu Sayyaf group which paved the way for the release of hostages who were kidnapped from a resort in Sipadan, Malaysia, in 2000, a local paper said.

The two German nationals, Werner and Renate Wallert, told lies to sell their book, and this did not prevent them from alleging that government officials assisted the hostage-takers to jack up the price of their ransom demand, Estrada and Aventajado told the Inquirer.

"My only concern then was the safety of the hostages," Estrada said. He added that the claims of Wallert were "dubious" and were like "loose cannons" because they were made two years after the incident.

Estrada said the money for ransom did not come from the Philippine government, but from non-government organisations from abroad.

"(Former Libyan ambassador) Rajab Azzarouq told me that the hostages wanted $1 million per hostage from day one. The Abu Sayyaf never went down, so how could we jack up that price?" Aventajado asked.

He noted that the Libyan envoy was the one who was on top of the negotiations for the release of the hostages.

Aventajado also admitted he knew about the ransom payment "only to a certain degree but the Libyan envoy was the one who (fully) knew (about) that."

Aventajado added that Azzarouq had suggested that the former could get a "cut from the $10 million that went to the Abu Sayyaf".

"They reportedly paid $20 million to $25 million so maybe Azzarouq would like to explain to his government where the $15 million went," said Aventajado.

Aventajado claimed he could not negotiate because of the Philippine government's no-ransom policy. "So I would not be surprised if Azzarouq fed wrong information to the Germans."

Aventajado admitted that he and Azzarouq became rivals because at that time Abu Sayyaf leader, Ghalib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, who led the hostage-taking, "shunned the Libyan envoy".

"If there was dishonesty, it is on the part of the Wallerts. I know they made money out of it," Aventajado claimed.

He noted that the Wallerts made the allegation against him and Estrada in order to promote their book on their experience as hostages.

Aventajado said the Wallerts earned $1 million for media interviews about their abduction.

Aventajado was quite sarcastic when he said the Wallerts had documented their captivity with an end in mind, and added that Werner even asked him to buy him batteries for his camera.

In an interview with CNN, Werner praised Azzarouq, the former Libyan envoy and the Gaddafi Charity Foundation (which is headed by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi) as the "good guys" who bought and obtained their freedom.