Hostage talks continue in southern Philippines

At least nine of 57 hostages held by gunmen have been released as negotiations with the government continue in the southern Philippines.

Negotiator Josefina Bajade told reporters the hostages were all safe after a night being held by men of the Manobo tribe in eastern Mindanao.

Some reports suggest fresh demands have been made by the gunmen.

The hostage-taking comes three weeks after the political killing of 57 people in another southern province.

Tension rises

Soldiers have been sent to the area near Prosperidad in Agusan del Sur to help restrict the movement of the hostage-takers.

The Philippine military spokesman told the BBC all 75 hostages, taken early on Thursday morning, had been released but later reports indicated dozens were still being held.

The hostage-takers' leader, Ondo Perez, has stated demands that murder charges against his group must be dropped and members of a rival group disarmed within a week.

If not, he told AFP news agency, the hostages' lives would be at risk.

Government sources were more optimistic.

"They allowed these nine people to go home with me as a sign of goodwill," Ms Bajade told reporters by phone from a mountain trail near Prosperidad town in Agusan del Sur.

Mindanao is awash with gangs of armed men, some officially backed

"I am confident we can get them all back to their families in a few days. What's more important is that we're talking and we're trying to resolve the problem peacefully," said Ms Bajade, a provincial social worker who heads of a team of negotiators.

"We sent food to the hostages early today and we were assured they will not be touched. We're optimistic we can resolve this problem by today."

Gun culture

The kidnappers belong to a gang of former government-armed militia on the island of Mindanao, police say.

The southern island of Mindanao is awash in weapons as the government has armed a number of civilian groups to help the military and police fight a number of insurgencies.

The hostage-taking took place in an area where communist rebels are known to operate, although it is not thought to be related to that four-decades long insurgency.

Nor are the abductions believed to be linked to a Muslim separatist rebellion elsewhere on Mindanao; one of the main insurgent groups is in peace talks with the government.

Martial law was imposed on other side of the island in Maguindanao province last weekend after the political massacre there that left 57 people dead.

There is often violence in the Philippines ahead of elections, and one is scheduled for next May, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead. But the scale and brutality of the deaths has come as a shock to the island nation.

He says the political and clan-based murders and kidnappings of the past few weeks have shown just how lawless parts of the Philippines really are.