Southern Philippines: Abu Sayyaf Frees Four Malaysian Hostages
2016.06.08
Kuching
Four Malaysian sailors taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants two months ago have been freed, news reports quoted Philippine and Malaysian officials as saying Wednesday.
The Malaysians who were abducted from their ship as it sailed near southern Philippine waters on April 1, were released Wednesday morning, Philippine military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He identified the Malaysians as brothers Wong Teck Kang, 31, and Wong Teck Chii, 29, their cousin Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21, and Wong Hung Sing, 34, who is not related.
In Malaysia, Deputy Inspector General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim confirmed that the four had been released from captivity at the hands of the southern Philippine-based Islamic militant group, and told the New Straits Times newspaper that the sailors were OK.
After their release, the sailors were taken to the coast of the southern Philippine province of Sulu, where they boarded a speedboat to Sandakan, in the nearby eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, AFP quoted Tan as saying in a statement.
“Information received from ground units disclosed that the freed victims arrived in Sandakan at about 6 a.m. today,” Tan said, adding he could not confirm if a ransom had been paid.
Previous reports claimed that Abu Sayyaf had demanded 18 million ringgit (U.S. $4.46 million) for their release.
Reports from Jolo, in the southern Philippines, indicated that Malaysian and Filipino negotiators managed to secure their release after several rounds of negotiations.
Family member contacted
According to The Star newspaper in Malaysia, an unnamed relative of two of the sailors confirmed that all four were free.
“I was told that the four of them are in good health. Their family members are now in Sandakan waiting to receive them,” the relative said.
The Star reported that the four arrived in Sandakan on Wednesday morning after being released late Tuesday by Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
The four were taken hostage from their tugboat while it sailed to Sarawak, a state that borders Sabah on the island of Borneo, from Manila. Five other crew members on the Malaysian-registered timber-hauling barge – three sailors from Myanmar and two from Indonesia – were left behind.
The April 1 hijacking occurred a week after Abu Sayyaf abducted 10 Indonesian sailors in waters of the southernmost region of the Philippines that borders Sabah. The Indonesians were released on May 1, but Indonesian officials did not comment on whether a ransom had been paid.
Abu Sayyaf: a history of executing hostages
In the case of the abduction of the four Malaysian sailors, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak ordered government agencies to step up efforts to secure their safe release. Najib personally assured family members that the sailors would return home safely.
In November, Abu Sayyaf beheaded Bernard Then, a Malaysian citizen who had been abducted from a seaside restaurant in Sabah in May 2015.
While the four Malaysian sailors were being held hostage, Abu Sayyaf beheaded Canadian hostage John Ridsdel on April 25, five hours after a ransom deadline had passed.
Ridsdel, 68, a former mining executive, was kidnapped along with countryman Robert Hall, 50, Norwegian Kjartan Sakkingstad, 56, and his Filipino girlfriend, Maritess Flor, 40, from a resort on Samal Island, in the Philippine province of Davao, in September.
Two weeks earlier, Abu Sayyaf had threatened to behead one of the captives if a ransom of 1 million ringgit (U.S. $6.2 million) for each person was not paid.
In its latest ultimatum, the group gave the Philippine and Canadian governments and families of the captives until 3 p.m. on June 13 to pay the ransoms.