In the Philippines yesterday, a government doctor delivered medical and food supplies for 21 ailing hostages held under dire conditions in a jungle camp by Islamic guerrillas.
The medical mission to the Abu Sayyaf camp was the first help from the outside world for the captives since they were snatched from a diving resort off Malaysian Borneo on Easter Sunday.
A provincial health officer, assisted by a medic, was able to check on some of the hostages, according to a journalist with the one-day mission, which returned late yesterday to the provincial capital from the mountain guerrilla camp in the southern Philippine island of Jolo.
Many of the hostages appeared gaunt and on the brink of a nervous breakdown, said Mr John Grafilo, a Filipino journalist with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Asked whether the hostages were in a critical condition, he said: "Not yet but on the brink of nervous breakdown."
The Abu Sayyaf gunmen are holding nine Malaysians, three Germans, two French, two Finns, two South Africans, two Filipinos and a Lebanese, whom they seized in a raid on Sipadan resort island.
The mercy mission yesterday was accompanied by 10 bodyguards in a military truck with Red Cross markings.
The guards belonged to chief government negotiator Mr Nur Misuari, who dispatched the mission purportedly after his emissaries obtained Abu Sayyaf's permission to provide medical attention for the captives.
The Muslim extremist group warned earlier in a radio interview that a South African hostage had collapsed.
A Finn was also reportedly suffering from bleeding ulcers.
Another Filipino journalist who was allowed to visit the hostages on Saturday reported that the captives were suffering from diarrhoea, dehydration and emotional distress, and that their feet were injured from long hours of marching through jungle with their captors.
Images of terrified captives were flashed around the world by global television networks yesterday as pressure mounted on President Joseph Estrada to save the hostages.
Mr Grafilo singled out a German hostage, who he said appeared to be "very weak and very nervous". She was slumped on the floor and crying.
The provincial governor told reporters that water, food, clothing and medicines had been sent to the hostages.
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Mr Mahathir Mohamad, has sent a package of medicine for the hostages, while French, German and Finnish diplomats arrived in nearby Zamboanga yesterday with food, medicines and other supplies.
"We won't negotiate," the French consul said, stressing that was the task of the Philippine government.
The Defence Secretary, Mr Orlandko Mercado, said Manila had no timetable to free the hostages amid the kidnappers' repeated threats to behead some captives.
He said the government would give all support to Mr Misuari to bring about a negotiated solution.
Some Abu Sayyaf leaders reportedly want Mr Misuari to be dropped as chief negotiator, but Mr Mercado said the government would not bow to their demands.
Mr Misuari said on Sunday he had yet to begin formal talks as he was trying to clarify the gunmen's demands and their chain of command.
President Estrada has refused to rule out the use of force.
Meanwhile, Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding another batch of 27 Filipino hostages, mostly children, in Basilan Island were reported to have fled southwards to Jolo Island after coming under strong attack from government troops.