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Following is a joint statement issued by the Security Bureau, representatives of victims' families in the Manila hostage-taking incident and Mr Bernardito Ang, representative of the City of Manila:
Security Bureau officials and representatives of victims' families in the Manila hostage-taking incident today (October 31) met Mr Bernardito Ang, representative of the City of Manila.
The representatives of victims' families and Mr Ang exchanged opinions and considered possible options on how the demands of the victims could be met.
All parties agreed to further exchange views on the matters, with the goal of finding a satisfactory solution to the four demands made by the victims and family members as a package.
Today's discussions were useful and helpful to narrow the differences. As further discussions will be necessary, all parties agreed to keep the dialogue open. To avoid speculation and not to add unnecessary pressure to victims and family members, all three parties re-affirmed the need, and have agreed, to not disclose details of the discussions at this stage.
Ends/Thursday, October 31, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:46
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