Granting that the difference between pirates and Abu Sayyaf is largely one of semantics ...
Pirates are demanding a five-million-dollar ransom from the Philippine government for five people kidnapped at a Malaysian jungle resort last month, a top military official said. General Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin, chief of the Malaysian defense force, said the pirates had reduced their price from 50 million dollars because they were getting desperate. The band of pirates numbering between 10 and 15 were operating in the seas off the Tawi-Tawi and Jolo islands in the southern Philippines, he said Monday. "Based on the Philippine military intelligence the five hostages are still alive and their abductors have become desperate and are now moving from place to place following heightened military operations against the Abu Sayyaf and other militant groups," Zahidi was quoted. Gunmen widely suspected of being Filipino Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels operating in the southern Philippines seized six foreign workers - Filipinos and Indonesians - from the Paradise Resort in the Malaysian section of Borneo Island on October 5. But one hostage, Nonoy Arkusil, who was rescued late October in the Tawi-Tawi island group near Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state, told Philippine authorities that his companions had been killed by the gunmen.
| Of course, he also turned out to be full of... ummm... prunes. |
Zahidi said the pirates had initially demanded 50 million dollars from the Philippines government. Malaysia had earlier refused to pay a reported 10 million ringgit (2.6 million dollars) demanded by the pirates for the workers, who are believed to be illegal immigrants. |