ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 June 2005 — Two of three Indonesian sailors kidnapped by suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists fled to freedom before dawn yesterday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual said Yamin Labaso and Erikson Hatagol escaped from their captors at around 12.30 a.m. from the bandits’ jungle hideout in Mt. Tumatangis in the island of Jolo, about 950 kilometersm south of Manila.

Pascual said a villager named Nijal Aradani helped the duo escape. He did not elaborate.

“The Indonesians are now under military doctors in Jolo,” Pascual told Arab News. “We are now only going to have to rescue just one. Hopefully, we may be able to get him in the next few days,” Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Lt. Gen. Efren Abu told reporters.

A Malaysian intelligence report last month suggested that two hostages died in captivity and that the third had escaped from the Abu Sayyaf. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry had also said last month that it received reports suggesting that one hostage died in captivity.

Hutagaol and Labuso were snatched on March 30 while sailing near Malaysia’s Sabah state along with a third Indonesian identified as Ahmad Resmiyadi, and taken to Jolo, the officials said.

The freed hostages were flown by helicopter and taken to a military hospital in southern Zamboanga city, where they were presented to the media.

They appeared weak — one had an intravenous tube attached to his arm — and both limply smiled and flashed the thumbs-up sign before photographers.

The chief of the military’s Southern Command, Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, said the two were moved by their abductors from island to island until troops tracked them.

Resmiyadi reportedly is being held elsewhere in Jolo. Troops were trying to find and rescue him, army Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo said.

Military officials said no ransom was paid for the two Indonesians, who were held by followers of Albader Parad, an Abu Sayyaf commander on a US list of wanted terrorists.

The Indonesian Embassy in Manila offered its thanks. A group of Indonesian parliamentarians traveled to the country last month to appeal for the safe release of their compatriots.

In recent years Malaysian and Philippine authorities have intensified patrols in the vast sea near where the Indonesians were seized to deter Muslim guerrillas, bandits and other armed groups roaming the area.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on a US list of terror groups, has been blamed for high-profile kidnappings and bomb attacks.