Abus free Chinese hostage; Filipino student escapes

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—The Sulu faction of the Abu Sayyaf terror group has freed a Malaysian-Chinese man it had held captive for six months, according to the military.

Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said Chan Sai Chuin (Kun Mun Hua), 32, a fish breeder, was released in the Barangay (village) Tubig Dakula, Indanan, Sulu. The authorities were uncertain if ransom was paid.

The military also said that a teenage Filipino student taken by the Abu Sayyaf had escaped and was found on Tuesday.

Ibrahim Patrasa, 16, escaped in Indanan nine hours after he was abducted outside his school on Jolo, said Col. Allan Arrojado, commander of ground forces on the island.

“Our troops ran into him while on patrol in the area,” he said. “We recovered a rifle and a handgun near the area where we found the boy.”

In May, Chinese consular officials in Malaysia identified the hostage as a trader from the southern Chinese province of Guizhou. Malaysian newspaper The Star identified him as the manager of a Sabah fish farm.

Chan was kidnapped at gunpoint, along with a Filipino worker, in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island and taken to Jolo.

Two negotiators from Sulu, identified as Hadji Mamih Sangkula and Hadji Mandi Sangkula, helped obtain Chan’s release, said Muyuela, quoting a report from the Joint Task Group Sulu.

She said Chan was taken by speed boat back to Malaysia following his release.

She said the Philippine military had played no part in the negotiations.

Malaysian sources confirmed that Chan was in Sandakan, where he was reunited with his wife and underwent a thorough medical checkup and debriefing.

Chan was taken by the Abu Sayyaf from his fish farm in Sapong Kunak on June 16.–Julie Alipala and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao; wires