| Three skeletons discovered in the southern Philippines are believed to be the remains of Malaysian and Indonesian seamen kidnapped by Filipino Muslim rebels in April, officials said Tuesday. The skeletal remains were found three weeks ago in shallow graves on Tawi-Tawi island in the southern Philippines after two captured gunmen of the Abu Sayyaf separatist group led the military to the grave, a Philippine marine source told AFP in Kota Kinabalu by telephone. "The remains have been flown from the Philippine Marine 11 battalion base Camp in Sanga Sanga on Tawi-Tawi to the southern command military headquarters in Zamboanga City for DNA tests," another Philippine official said on condition of anonymity. He said a post mortem would be conducted to determine the cause of death and to confirm that the skeletal remains were those of the three abducted seamen. |