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Monday, June 13, 2005
2 Indonesian hostages 'escape' Sayyaf abductors
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Military officials presented Sunday two of three Indonesian sailors kidnapped by members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf during a press conference inside the Southern Command hospital in Zamboanga City.
Indonesian tugboat crewmembers Yasmin Labaso, 26, and Erikson Hutagaol, 23, who were kidnapped last March 30 by Abu Sayyaf gunmen off Mataking island near the Sabah border, were earlier reported by the military to have escaped at around 12:30 a.m. Sunday from their kidnappers' jungle hideout in Jolo town, Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.
Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Alberto Braganza, however, said in a press briefing at the hospital that the two hostages did not escape but were rescued by government soldiers from their captors.
Their companion, Ahmad Resmiyadi, 32, remained captive in Mount Tumantangis, in Sulu, added Braganza.
Armed Forces Southern Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said earlier that Labaso and Hatagol escaped from their captors with the help of a villager. An Army report later corrected Pascual's statement, saying troops stormed the kidnappers' hideout and rescued the duo.
"We are now only going to have to rescue just one. Hopefully, we may be able to get him in the next few days," Armed Forces chief-of-staff Lieutenant General Efren Abu told reporters.
A Malaysian intelligence report said last month that the two hostages died in captivity and that the third had escaped from the Abu Sayyaf. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry also said it received reports suggesting that one hostage had died in captivity.
The kidnappers have demanded three million ringgits (US$789,600 dollars) in exchange for the safe release of the hostages. The gang said it would kill one of the hostages if ransom is not paid. The demand was sent last month to the Indonesian Consulate in Sabah.
Indonesian consulate spokesman Bambang Gunawan said the kidnappers had sent messages through a mobile phone to consulate officials and asked a video camera so they can air their demands. The captors also demanded medicines for the hostages, he said, but Philippine security officials claimed the information was not passed on to them.
Yamin Labuso also spoke with Indonesian officials on the phone and told them that his companions were suffering from diarrhea and malaria.
"For 50 days, they have been held hostage by a Jemaah group in Southern Mindanao," said Indonesian foreign department spokesman Yuri Thamrin on Friday in Jakarta.
The hostages were crewmembers of the tugboat Bongagaya 91, owned by the Malaysian boat firm Syarikat Pengangkutan Bonggaya. The vessel was returning to Sandakan in Sabah from East Kalimantan when the bandits attacked them.
The families of the hostages have appealed to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to secure the release of the sailors with help from Malaysian and Philippine authorities.
"We feel that our loved ones have been neglected. We are worried that this kidnapping is not being highlighted by the media and as a result the Indonesian authorities are not serious in handling this matter," Erikson's brother Prulian told reporters in Jakarta.
Philippine authorities have identified the kidnappers as Ibni Hassan, Ben Sanu alias Bin Ladin, Calvi Tandanan, Fernando Corrolo, Majit Kalinggalan, Hulti Jailani, Badong Moktadil and Abdul Ullong.
The Abu Sayyaf was also implicated in the kidnapping of two Malaysian and Indonesian tugboat crewmembers in April last year near the southern Philippine island of Taganak off mainland Tawi-Tawi province. The seamen, Toh Chiu Tiong, 53, Wong Siu Ung, 52, and Indonesian skipper JE Walter Sampel, died in captivity, authorities said.
A group of Indonesian parliamentary members, led by Junes Effendi, arrived in Zamboanga City last month and met with Braganza. They also appealed to Abu Sayyaf bandits to free their compatriots.
The Abu Sayyaf group was behind the kidnapping of 21 mostly Asian and European holiday-goers from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan in April 2000. Many of the hostages were freed later after Libyan and Malaysian negotiators paid an estimated US$11 million ransom.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization after Manila implicated five of the group's known leaders to the killing of Californian Guillermo Sobero in 2001 and Kansas missionary Martin Burnham in 2002. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(June 13, 2005 issue)
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