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Tuesday, October 07, 2003
No Pinoy taken in Sabah resort abduction
MANILA -- Three Indonesians and three Malaysians, and not Filipinos, were taken from the tiny Borneo Paradise Resort along River Sabahan in the eastern Sabah state but their abductors may have come from the Philippines, a military official said Monday.
Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Rodolfo Garcia said the abductors were reported to be wearing military fatigues and carrying modern weapons, spoke "Tausug" (a dialect used by a Muslim tribe in the Philippines) and appeared to be heading for Tawi-Tawi aboard a speedboat.
Garcia said Colonel Frank Simoys, the military attaché in Malaysia, relayed the clarification that not one of those taken hostage was a Filipino.
An Agence France Presse report had quoted Malaysian police as saying that three Indonesian and three Filipino workers were kidnapped from the tiny riverside resort late Sunday night. The perpetrators were 10 gunmen who bundled them into a speedboat.
According to Garcia, the military says it is possible the bandit group Abu Sayyaf is behind the abduction, although the Malaysian police had ruled this out.
Malaysian police chief Norian Mai earlier ruled out speculations the Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the latest raid.
"We think it is done by locals. We believe it is not committed by foreign criminals. They did not do anything else except to kidnap the workers. Our speculation points to ransom," he said.
The kidnappers had not taken any food from the resort, which suggested they were not preparing for a long journey, he added.
Malaysian police authorities said that so far, no demands have been made for the release of the hostages.
Norian added that Indonesian and Philippine authorities were cooperating in the hunt for the kidnappers.
"We are conducting joint operations with Indonesian and Philippine authorities. We cannot rule out the possibility of them hiding there."
Garcia confirmed that security forces on Mindanao had been placed on high alert and were working closely with Malaysian authorities to intercept the group.
He believed the capability of the Abu Sayyaf has been downgraded amid relentless military operations in the group's strongholds.
"However, we do not completely rule out the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf in this particular incident," Garcia said.
The 15-room resort, where the abduction took place and which opened only six months ago, is some two kilometers from the coast and 38 kilometers from the nearest town, Kunak, Norian added.
Sabah, on the north coast of Borneo island, has been targeted in the past by militants and bandit gangs from across the Sulu Sea seeking hostages.
The bandit group Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 people, mostly Western tourists, from the Sipadan resort in Sabah in April 2000, holding them for nearly a year before releasing them, reportedly in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom.
Five months after the first raid, they seized three Malaysian hostages from the nearby resort island of Pandanan. (Miko Santos/With AFP)
(October 7, 2003 issue)
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