950823

India may release

some guerrillas

in exchange of hostages

SRINAGAR: Indian officials said on Wednesday they were increasingly hopeful of negotiating the safe release of four Westerners held hostage by guerrillas in Kashmir after receiving evidence the captives were unharmed.

They said Al-Faran rebels had been persuaded, during intensive talks with an unidentified intermediary, to release photographs and a tape recording late on Tuesday indicating the tourists, in their eight week of captivity, were well.

Buoyed by the concrete evidence, officials said they were pinning their hopes on a possible deal that could involve the release of the hostages and a number of jailed separatists.

They said, there were no plans to bow to Al-Faran's demand that three hard-core militants with alleged links to the previously unknown group should be freed.

But they said a number of separatists might be released as part of the government's regular riview of the status of prisoners in the rebellious Himalayan region.

"Perhaps ordinary people could be released in the normal course of events," one official said. "This is possible option."

One official said the government hoped Al-Faran could be persuaded to release American Donald Hutchings, German Dirk Hasert and Britons Paul Wells and Keith Mangan on assurances "lesser mortals, ordinary people" would be released from jail.

Authorities said the photographs received on Tuesday showed the four hostages looking well.

They said that on the very brief tape recording, each of the four captives says his name, the name of his wife or partner, the time and date - August 18. Neither the photographs nor the tape recording were released to the media in Srignagar.

"The tape and photographs are the result of intensive contact with Al-Faran," one senior official said. "There is scope for negotiation."

Authorities said the surge of optimism followed deep worries late on Sunday when diplomats learned of a possible fresh threat to the hostages' lives - one week after a fifth captive, Norwegian Hans Christian Ostroe, was found beheaded.-Reuter