|
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Search continues for remaining kidnapped Indon
By Al Jacinto
GOVERNMENT security forces continue the search Tuesday for the remaining kidnapped Indonesian sailor held captive by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the region's military commander Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza said.
Troops were tracking down the kidnappers and their hostage, Ahmad Resmiyadi, 32, in Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila, Braganza said.
He also denied that two Indonesian hostages -- Yamin Labaso and Erikson Hutagaol -- who were "rescued" over the weekend, were released for ransom. "They were rescued by soldiers after a firefight with gunmen. We have a strict no-ransom policy," Braganza said.
Braganza said the freed hostages told military debriefers that the remaining captive was in good health when they were separated from him. Labaso and Hutagaol are still in the hospital inside the Southern Command military base in Zamboanga City where doctors were examining them.
"They gave information that Ahmad Resmiyadi is okay," he said.
The kidnappers, who called their group Jammi Al-Islamiah, have earlier demanded three million ringgits ($789,600 dollars) in exchange for the safe release of the three hostages. The gang said it would kill one of the hostage if ransom is not paid. The demand was sent last month to the Indonesian Consulate in Sabah.
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.
Jakarta had earlier rejected demands for ransom and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said his government would not pay ransom to the kidnappers.
"They want money, but the government will never give them," Kalla said, adding, Jakarta sent a team to the Philippines to coordinate efforts with local authorities to seek the release of the hostages.
Other security sources in Jolo said the duo were freed after unnamed negotiators allegedly paid a still unspecified amount of ransom money to the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers headed by Albader Parad. And that negotiations for the safe release of Resmiyadi, who is being held by another Abu Sayyaf faction under Salip Abdulla, are going on.
Sources said a local Muslim villager Nijal Aradain helped the pair escaped in Mt. Tumatangis near Indanan town. But It was not immediately known why Aradain helped the Indonesians escaped or what role he played for the safe release of Labaso and Hutagaol.
The hostages, kidnapped in March 30 near the Philippine-Malaysia border, were crew members of the tugboat Bongagaya 91, owned by the Malaysian boat firm, Syarikat Pengangkutan Bonggaya. The vessel was returning to Sabah from East Kalimantan when the bandits attacked them.
The hostages walked to their freedom before the visit to the Philippines next Monday of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who lauded Manila for the rescue of his two countrymen.
Yudhoyono on Monday thanked President Gloria Arroyo for the rescue of two hostages. His spokesman Dino Pati Jalal said the Indonesian leader was very impressed with rescue of Labaso and Hutagaol after more than two months in captivity.
A spokesman for the military's Southern Command, Col. Domingo Tutaan, on Tuesday said the "rescue" of the two hostages was the result of a joint efforts between security groups in the island.
"The rescue was the result of a long intelligence operation by the different military units in Jolo. The two Indonesian hostages were rescued after a firefight in Jolo's hinterlands. Troops have put their lives in grave danger to rescue the hostages, and there is no truth to reports that ransom was paid for their release. The Philippines and Indonesia, and Malaysia have a strict no-ransom policy, we don't deal with terrorists," Tutaan said.
Indonesian Ambassador Sanusi on Monday flew to Zamboanga City and met with Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza to thank the military for the safe recovery of the hostages.
Sanusi later met with Labaso and Hutagaol, but Filipino soldiers said the ambassador did not want reporters near the military hospital where the pair were resting.Soldiers also prevented news photographers from taking Sanusi's picture while he was talking with the escaped hostages.
Sanusi also did not give a statement to reporters.
A group of Indonesian lawmakers led by Junus Effendi Habibie is also expected to arrive in Zamboanga City this week to see the hostages, Braganza said. "The Indonesian ambassador is elated over the rescue of the hostages, and Indonesian lawmakers are also arriving here this week," he told reporters.
The Abu Sayyaf was also implicated in the kidnapping of two Malaysian and an Indonesian tugboat crew members in April last year near the southern Philippine island of Taganak off Tawi-Tawi. The seamen Toh Chiu Tiong, 53; Wong Siu Ung, 52; and Indonesian skipper JE Walter Sampel died in captivity, Filipino authorities said.
The Abu Sayyaf group was also behind the kidnapping of 21 mostly Asian and European holiday-makers from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan in April 2000. Many of the hostages later were freed after Libyan and Malaysian negotiators paid an estimated $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.
(June 15, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
