Jolo rebels 'paid $5.5m ransom' 菲霍樂島叛軍已得到550萬贖金

Some hostages have been held for 15 weeks

部分人質已被扣留15個星期

Muslim rebels holding around 30 hostages in the southern Philippines have reportedly received $5.5m in ransom for the release of the handful of captives freed so far.

Philippine military chief Angelo Reyes made the disclosure in a cabinet meeting led by President Joseph Estrada.

Mr Reyes said the guerrillas were using the money to buy weapons for their separatist war.

But Mr Estrada stopped short the discussion, apparently because of the presence of journalists covering the meeting.

Police sources say the rebels have been demanding about $1m for each Western hostage and about $350,000 for each of the others.

據報道，在菲律賓南部扣留約30名人質的穆斯林叛軍因釋放了少數人質已獲得550萬美元的贖金。

菲律賓軍隊首領Angelo Reyes是在總統埃斯特拉達主持召開的內閣會議上透漏這一消息的。

Reyes說這些反叛分子將用這些錢購買從事分裂活動的武器。

但埃斯特拉達打斷了這一話題，顯然是因為有記者在場。

警方消息說，反叛分子要求每個西方人質贖金100萬美元，其它每個人質贖金35萬美元。