ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf rebels in southern Philippines have freed a kidnapped Malaysian policeman in exchange for a still unspecified ransom following long negotiations by Kuala Lumpur.
The 26-year old Zakiah Aleip was seized by rebels on June 12 last year after a clash in Sabah that killed another policeman. The rebels originally demanded 5 million ringgits (P68.3 million).
Aleip was released on Friday in Sulu province and immediately whisked by Malaysian agents to a speedboat and brought him to Sabah where government officials waited.
Two Filipino negotiators, Mamih and Mandi Sangkulah, who are leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front, reportedly helped in the Malaysian negotiations. Both men also acted as negotiators for other Malaysian and Chinese nationals kidnapped in Sabah last year and brought to Sulu province.
In December, Abu Sayyaf gunmen also released a kidnapped Malaysian fish breeder Chan Sai Chuin after 6 months in captivity in exchange for ransom. He was also sneaked out of Sulu on a speedboat by Malaysian negotiators.
The 32-year old Chuin, whose passport name is Kun Mun Hua, was freed in the village of Tubig Dakula in Indanan town, the same area where Aleip was released by his captors. The rebels have threatened to kill the Malaysian fish breeder – kidnapped along with a Filipino worker on June 16 last year from a fish farm in the town of Kunak in Tawau District – if their 3 million ringgits (P41 million) ransom was not paid by his family.
The town is a known stronghold of the MNLF, which signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996. There was no immediate statement from the Malaysian Embassy in Manila about the release of the policeman.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding captive a 68-year old Japanese treasure hunter Katayama Mamaito, who was kidnapped on Pangutaran Island also in Sulu in July 2010. (Mindanao Examiner)
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