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4 Abu Sayyaf hostages released
Four Borneo Paradise resort hostages held captive by the notorious Abu Sayyaf linked group in Southern Philippines for eight months have been released and they arrived safely in this Sabah east coast town this morning.
Managed to keep their heads, did they?
One of the hostages is reported dead but his identity was yet to be established by the Malaysian authorities.
I guess most of them kept their heads, then...
The five hostages were held in the jungles in one of the Tawi Tawi group of islands were Indonesians Amir Nangi, 50, Arsyad Sagoni, 45 and two others identified only as Suwito,23 and Annuar, 27 as well as Filipino Azarah Sariban, 50. They were among six hostages grabbed by a Filipino bandit group which stormed Borneo Paradise Eco Farm Resort near Lahad Datu on Oct 5, last year and were believed to have been handed over to the Abu Sayyaf group accused having links with the al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah terror networks. One of the hostages, Filipino Norvelito Arcosel, escaped on Oct 29 while the rest remained in the hands of the gunmen until recent attempts were made through negotiations to secure the release of three East Ocean Two tugboat hostages including two Malaysians abducted in the Sulu Sea on Easter night on April 11. The negotiations were initiated by Sandakan businessman Henry Chan San Chang who had once helped in securing the release of several of the 21 Sipadan hostages in 2000.
Henry's the local Guy Who Knows the Right People, is he?
The released four Borneo Paradise hostages, two of whom were very sick and unable to walk, landed in a boat near Sandakan Yacht Club at about 6am after a seven hour rough sea journey. They were taken by the police and sent to Duchess Of Kent hospital for a medical check up. Seen entering the hospital at about 9am were Amir, Arsyad, Suwito and Azarah although it could not be confirmed if the hostage who had reportedly died was Annuar. The East Ocean hostages still in the hands of the gunmen were engineer Toh Chiu Tiong, 56, of Miri and crane operator Wong Siu Ung, 52 of Sibu as well Indonesian skipper Walter Sampel, 53. They were reported to be safe.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-05-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=33775