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Trio spotted in Tawi Tawi
The three seamen kidnapped from a Malaysian tugboat were sighted with five gunmen in the Tawi Tawi chain of islands in southern Philippines just hours after their vessel was attacked. However, no ransom demand has been made for the Bonggaya 91 skipper Resmiadi, 31, and crewmen Erikson Hutagaol, 23, and Yamin Labuso, 26. The three Indonesian nationals were grabbed at gunpoint near Pulau Mataking in the Sulawesi Sea at about 10.20am on Wednesday. "I have received reports that the gunmen and the three victims have been seen at the main island of Tawi Tawi," said Nur Jaafar, a former Tawi Tawi congressman and now a special representative of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in southern Philippines. He told The Star the eight were spotted less then six hours after the attack, which has set off a massive hunt by Malaysian and Filipino security forces in the border waters off the east coast of Sabah. Jaafar said the group responsible for the kidnapping could have some connections with the East Ocean tugboat raid last April. The Indonesian skipper and two Sarawakians taken hostage then are believed to be dead in the jungles of Tawi Tawi. According to the Philippines military, it is suspected that the gunmen could be linked to the Abu Sayyaf militant group, which the United States have accused of being part of the Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda network in this region. In Semporna, Sabah deputy police commissioner Senior Asst Comm I Mohd Bakri Zinin said the police had sought the help of their Philippines counterpart to locate the victims. "Our security in the east coast is under control and the incident occurred outside Malaysian waters," he told reporters yesterday after meeting security forces patrolling the Sabah east coast. He added that the four remaining crew members of Bonggaya 91 and its barge, Bonggaya 90, who returned to Sandakan at 8.30am yesterday, were under the care of the police. On reaching the jetty at Kampung Kombo, the four gave their statements to the police. SAC Bakri also said the police believed the latest incident was not linked to a series of pirate attacks off Lahad Datu about two weeks ago but were investigating if it had any links with the East Ocean raid. The Filipino gunmen attacked the tugboat as it was negotiating the Alice Channel along the international shipping lane about three nautical miles from Pulau Mataking, an hour's high-speed boat ride from Semporna. Syarikat Pengangkutan Bonggaya director Vincent Chang said this was the first time in the Sandakan-based company's 40-year history that one of their tugboats had been attacked. "We have not received any word from the gunmen or our abducted crew. We don't know their whereabouts," he added. Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman said the police and armed forces would continue to patrol the border areas to ensure that such incidents did not recur. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-04-01 |
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