ZAMBOANGA CITY – Five gunmen have seized three Indonesian crew members in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah just off the southern Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi, reports said on Sunday.
Reports said the armed men were on a speedboat when they intercepted Saturday night the tugboat and abducted the three out of the 7 crewmen. Other reports said the victims – Lorence Koten, 34, Teo Dorus Kopong, 42, and Emanuel, 46 – were crewmen of a trawler. It was unknown whether the abductors were members of the Abu Sayyaf or not, but according to reports some the gunmen spoke Malay and Tausug, a dialect spoken in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan, all in the Muslim autonomous region.
There was no immediate confirmation from Philippine authorities on the latest abduction, but this occurred near where Abu Sayyaf militants had kidnapped 7 other Indonesian tugboat crew members on June 29.
The tugboat Charles – owned by PT Rusianto Brothers – was heading to Samarinda in East Kalimantan following a trip from the Philippines when gunmen on speedboats intercepted it and seized Ferry Arifin, the skipper; M. Mahbrur Dahri, Edi Suryono, Ismail, M.Nasir, M.Sofyan and Robin Piter. The Abu Sayyaf is demanding 20 million ringgits for the safe release of the hostages.
The Abu Sayyaf previously kidnapped 14 Indonesian tugboat crewmembers in separate attacks at sea and brought them to Sulu province and eventually released through the intercession of the Moro National Liberation Front. It has beheaded a Malaysian man and two Canadian hostages in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding a Dutchman, a Norwegian and a Japanese man, including 3 Filipinos. (Mindanao Examiner)
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