ZAMBOANGA CITY, 3 May 2004 - Authorities are questioning the family of an Abu Sayyaf gang leader whose group is holding one Indonesian and two Malaysian sailors in the remote southern province of Tawi-Tawi, officials said yesterday.
Police and military tagged Ladjib Jadaman as behind the kidnapping of Indonesian tugboat skipper Sam Walter Pel and two others. Jadaman's father and mother are being interrogated about the kidnapping and the whereabouts of the foreigners, officials said. Authorities earlier held a man who was linked to Jadaman.
The trio, crew members of the MV Ocean 2 barge transporting pebbles to Solomon islands, were seized April 11 near the remote Philippine island of Baguan in the Sulu Sea several nautical miles off Tawi-Tawi.
Philippine Navy spokesman Geronimo Malabanan said the Abu Sayyaf was behind the kidnapping.
The kidnappers have demanded three million ringgit in exchange for the hostages' safe release. The gunmen made the ransom demand after contacting the victims' employer in Sabah by cell phone from Tawi-Tawi.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman confirmed the ransom demand, but said his government will not pay the kidnappers for the freedom of the hostages.
"I have been informed by the Sabah Police Commissioner that the kidnappers were asking for a RM3 million ransom. The government is clear about this, we will not fulfill their demand. We will not entertain them if they demand money in return for the release of the hostages," he said.
He said his group is closely working with the Philippine military to track down the kidnappers and their hostages in Tawi-Tawi. "We want to resolve this hostage crisis as soon as possible," he added.
Philippine regional police chief Isnaji Bantala earlier said they have already identified the kidnappers and that their arrests are imminent. "We already know the identities of the kidnappers and police and military forces are now hunting them down," he told reporters.
Another Abu Sayyaf faction in Tawi-Tawi is still holding four Indonesian and a Filipino resort workers they kidnapped in daring raid on Sabah in October last year. A sixth hostage Novelito Arcosel, a Filipino, escaped from the kidnappers and recovered by villagers late last year.
It was not immediately known if the group had anything to do with the latest kidnapping.
