JOLO, Philippines (AFP) - Malaysia fended off criticism yesterday that it was interfering in Philippine affairs as the two neighbors looked for ways to end the ordeal of 21 hostages held for the past four weeks.

Philippine negotiators and the Malaysian ambassador to Manila met Abu Sayyaf leaders separately last week in the Jolo hinterlands when the visitors were also shown the Malaysian, German, French, Finnish, South African, Filipino and Lebanese captives for the first time.

In the nearby island of Basilan yesterday military units on the trail of a second group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen rescued two schoolchildren from among nine Filipino hostages. One soldier was wounded in the rescue.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in Kuala Lumpur that the ambassador had not been given any mandate to negotiate with the kidnappers, whom he only met "at their request."

Ambassador Mohamad Arshad Manzoor Hussain's visit on Thursday had drawn flak from Filipino officials, the local press and politicians, many of whom called on the Foreign Department to declare him persona non grata.

The 10 western tourists, along with nine Malaysian and two Filipino resort workers were snatched from the Malaysian dive resort of Sipadan on April 23 and taken by boat to Jolo.

Seventy police special forces officers arrived here yesterday, part of a larger contingent to be deployed in the nearby town of Patikul to secure the site of the ransom talks, which officials said should begin sometime today or tomorrow.

The negotiators earlier denied Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon's announcement last week that the gunmen wanted at least two million dollars in ransom.

There was more official recrimination at the highest levels yesterday as politicians and the press lambasted President Joseph Estrada for having allowed the Malaysian ambassador to visit the hostage-takers.

Aventajado said in a radio interview that his team was "not pleased" with Arshad's efforts, warning that the envoy could even be compromising his own safety by not informing him of his trip.

"He should be sent home," opposition Filipino legislator Heherson Alvarez said of Arshad. "It is our call whether to negotiate," Alvarez said in a radio interview.

The Philippine press also called for Arshad to go home. "It was foolhardy of Kuala Lumpur and the foreign affairs officials who encouraged their unilateral stupidity to act without any clear coordination with the official negotiating team," the Today newspaper said in an editorial.

However the Malaya newspaper said Manila "may as well let the ambassadors of Germany, France, Finland, South Africa and Lebanon cut their own deals for the release of their countrymen."

Philippine Star publisher Max Soliven wrote that while it was "the laxity of the Malaysian security forces" that led to the kidnapping, "this is a matter for the Philippine government and one government negotiator to resolve - after all, whatever happens, it's us who'll get the blame."

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