Three Indonesians and a Filipino kidnapped seven months ago at a Malaysian resort by alleged Abu Sayyaf guerrillas were released Monday (24/5/04) after the payment of a ransom intended for another group of hostages, reports said. The Filipino kidnappers freed the four resort workers after receiving a $52,600 ransom meant for the release of three other captives also apparently being held on the Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi. The three men supposed to have been released were Indonesian sailor Sam Walter Pel (55) and his Malaysian colleagues Wong Sien Nung (52) and Toh Chien Tiong (56), who were kidnapped on April 11 while on a barge being towed by a tugboat near Lingkian island off Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state. Malaysian police said the four men who ended up being freed were Filipino Zarah Sariban and Indonesian nationals Amir Akbar, Arshad Zagoni and Suwito. | I guess one hostage looks pretty much like any other hostage |
The four were among six people kidnapped on October 4 from the tiny riverside Borneo Paradise Resort, also in Sabah state, by a gang of 10 men wearing military fatigues and armed with modern weapons. The two other kidnapped resort workers were Indonesian citizen Anwar (27), who reportedly died two months ago and was buried on Tawi-Tawi, and Filipino Novelito Arcosel, who escaped on October 29. Malaysia’s state news agency Bernama quoted Sabah Police chief Iliyas Ibrahim as saying a group of four civilian negotiators went to Tawi-Tawi by boat on May 22, carrying 200,000 ringgit ($52,600) in cash in the hope of securing the release of the abducted sailors. It was unclear whether the money had come from the government or from relatives of the hostages. "However, at about 6am today, the negotiators returned to Sandakan [in Sabah], bringing along with them the four hostages from the Borneo Paradise Resort instead," Ibrahim was quoted as saying. He did not say why the mix-up had occurred. | "Hey, who are those guys?" "Those are the hostages" "No,no, not them, we wanted the other hostages!" "Sorry, no returns." |
Mohamad Bakri, chief of criminal investigations in Sabah, told Agence France-Presse the four released men had been sent to a local hospital for medical checks. Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terrorism network, has for years been kidnapping foreigners and local Christians, usually demanding huge ransom payments for their release. In June 2002, Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped four Indonesians sailors and demanded a ransom of about $294,000. Three of the hostages later escaped and one was shot dead by the guerrillas. The fate of the Indonesian sailor Sam Walter Pel and his two Malaysian colleagues still being held hostage is unclear. The Indonesian Embassy in Manila last month said Jakarta had refused to pay a $6,800 ransom demanded for the release of Pel, as paying ransoms would only encourage more kidnappings. |