Abu suspected in latest abductions

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Malaysian authorities have reported the kidnapping of three fishermen late Saturday off Pom Pom Island, a popular scuba diving spot located in the eastern state of Sabah.

Malaysia’s The Star Online quoted Eastern Sabah Community Command (Esscom) Commander Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Abdul Khalid as confirming that he had received the report about the kidnapping from the owner of the vessel himself.

Khalid said the abduction was perpetrated by a “suspected seven-member Filipino armed group and is believed to have taken the victims across the border toward the southern Philippines island chain of Tawi-Tawi province.”

The kidnappers fled on a green fast boat towards the southern Philippines. The rest of the crew steered the trawler back to the Semporna jetty.

“The boat is Malaysian registered,” Wan Abdul Bari Abdul Khalid, head of Malaysia’s Eastern Sabah Security Command, told Armed Forces of the Philippines, without providing details.

Authorities did not directly link the kidnapping to the Abu Sayyaf but Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said a “kidnap for ransom” group was responsible.

“The kidnap or ransom group operates near the southern Philippines, near Malaysian islands, and although the authorities monitor the waters closely, this group moves under the radar,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

Zahid said the three people kidnapped were not Malaysian citizens but permanent residents.

Filipino military officials at the western Mindanao Command and at Joint Task Group Sulu were silent on the latest kidnapping, which happened during massive military operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.

A military intelligence report  however said three Filipino Badjaos were abducted in the Semporna Seas at 10:40 p.m. on Sept. 10. The victims were only identified as Masurin, Sami and Lolong. With an AFP report