April 27, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abductors seek P100 M ransom, by Noralyn Mustafa, Hernan P. dela Cruz and Carlito Pablo,

April 27, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Abductors seek P100 M ransom, by Noralyn Mustafa, Hernan P. dela Cruz and Carlito Pablo,

Sulu--A gang of suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and at least 18 foreign and two Filipino hostages abducted from a Malaysian island resort were brought here Monday, according to provincial police sources.  

The sighting--the first since the hostages were rounded up at the Sipadan dive resort off Sabah on Sunday--came as a relative of one of the two Filipino hostages said the gunmen were seeking a ransom of more than 10 million Malaysian ringgit ($2.63 million). 

The abductors and their victims were first spotted when they landed in Barangay Ipil, Maimbung, at 5 p.m. Monday, the sources told the INQUIRER. 

An hour later, the abductors reportedly brought their victims to the coastal village of Karawan, then to Barangay Samak in the town of Tilapao, 20 kilometers southwest of this provincial capital. 

According to an Associated Press report, the kidnappers will soon free two Malaysian hostages because they are Muslims, and are demanding a P100- million ($2.4-million) ransom. The INQUIRER sources said the kidnappers belonged to the local Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) believed to be led by Galib Andang, Ustadz Ummal Sahibul and a man known as Commander Robot. 

The ASG here, however, does not have any ideological ties with the Abu Sayyaf separatist extremists in Basilan who are holding 27 local hostages. The sources described the Abu Sayyaf here as "homegrown" and a "purely kidnap-for-ransom gang." The Abu Sayyaf in Basilan has been under a five-day siege by government forces. 

Galib Andang is suspected of having masterminded the kidnappings of three Hong Kong fishery workers in 1998 and of a businessman freed in January after being held for 70 days, according to the military.

A report from the Armed Forces Southern Command said the kidnappers were reported to be in Bandang in the town of Talipao on Jolo, the provincial capital and largest of the 157 islands in the Sulu group. "They're  safe. I can assure you of that," said Armed Forces acting Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim. 

In Manila, the Southcom reported to Camp Aguinaldo that the kidnappers were led by Commander Galib Mujid, identified as a "terrorist" believed to be a Filipino Muslim. Citing intelligence reports, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno confirmed that all 20 hostages were in Sulu, but said they were possibly split into two or three groups. 

Puno told reporters in Malacañang that there were unconfirmed reports that former commanders of the Moro National Liberation Front were involved in the kidnapping of the foreigners. He announced that President Estrada was considering sending Nur Misuari, the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to help secure the release of the hostages, although it was not clear if Misuari would act as a negotiator for the government. 

Malaysia willing to pay? 

Misuari went to visit the President last night to offer his services. "The executive office is now drafting what role he (Misuari) will play. Once the specific role is finalized, we will be ready to send him off," Puno said in a press briefing yesterday. 

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado and senior military officials flew to Jolo yesterday to coordinate efforts to secure the release of the hostages. "We have been able to pinpoint the area already," Mercado said. As the authorities tried to establish contact with the hostage-takers, an official of the Malaysian Embassy yesterday called a radio station in Zamboanga City to say the Embassy wanted to negotiate and was willing to pay ransom. 

In Manila, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said any negotiation would likely involve the six foreign governments whose nationals were among the 20 hostages. 

The captives--two Filipinos, at least eight Malaysians, three Germans, two French nationals, two South Africans, two Finns and a Lebanese woman-- were taken at gunpoint from the Sipadan dive resort by masked men. 

'Only the whites' 

The police sources told the INQUIRER that all of the hostages were seen in Jolo, contradicting a statement made by Misuari yesterday. "Only the whites are there. I don't know where the others were taken," Misuari said in a television interview. "Less than 10 are in Jolo," he said, adding that the captives had been separated into two groups and were being held in two unnamed villages. Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan confirmed that some of the hostages had been spotted, although he would not say where he got the information. "They are here," he told Agence France Presse by phone from Jolo. 

"They are probably with Galib Andang," he said. Andang is based in Talipao. Tan said he was scheduled to meet Calimlim later yesterday "about the negotiations here." At the Palace, Puno told reporters: "Obviously, the government will be open to any kind of development now. As usual, there are innocent lives involved so we cannot close any options . . . But what exactly the President decides is exactly what you will have to wait for." 

Negotiation mode 

For his part, Siazon said the government was not planning any military operation to free the hostages. "We are in a negotiation mode. You are at a stage where you are trying to wait for contacts from the other side," Siazon said. 

He yesterday informed Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar and the ambassadors of France, Germany and Finland that the military had confirmed that the kidnappers were holding the hostages somewhere in Jolo. The foreign secretary said the government was taking into consideration the international make-up of the hostage group. 

"This is primarily the Philippine government's task, but negotiations are not limited or exclusive (to the Philippines). We have to take into account the various nationalities of the kidnap victims," he told reporters yesterday morning. 

"The safety of the hostages will be the primary consideration," he stressed. He said there are already "some people involved" in the negotiations, but did not elaborate. 

MNLF sign on vest 

A "Caucasian-looking individual" participated in the abduction, according to the Southcom report. The report did not provide further details on the identity of the person, whose gender was not specified, but it corrected previous reports that five to six armed men pulled off the kidnapping. 

The report said 15 people, including the Caucasian-looking person, took part in the kidnapping. The criminals include 12 ''Chinese-looking and Malay speaking persons,'' and two others who spoke Tausug and Malay. A waitress who escaped the Malaysian abduction added weight to the belief that Muslim rebels were responsible. 

Jeneth Cagaanan, 27, said "one of the pirates pointed a gun at my neck" and demanded her money and jewelry. She said she replied to him in Tausug and the assailants understood her. But some of the gunmen spoke Malay, she said. 

Cagaanan said one of the assailants wore a vest emblazoned with the initials "MNLF," which signed a peace accord with the Philippine government in 1996. But some disgruntled members now belong to other Muslim rebel groups. The Abu Sayyaf in Basilan claimed on Tuesday to have staged the kidnapping, then later refused to confirm or deny that the group was behind the hostage-taking. 

A composite military unit responsible for military operations in Sulu was ordered to confirm the sightings in Sulu of the kidnappers and their captives. The unit is made up of members of the Navy, the 530th composite tactical wing of the Air Force and Task Force Sultan. 

Ransom demand 

The 10-million-ringgit ransom demand was relayed to the operators of the Sipadan resort, who then discussed it with Malaysian police, said Roger Rodriguez, a nephew of Filipina resort worker Lucrecia Dablo, one of the hostages.

  
Rodriguez, 32, said a certain Joy, who works at the Pulau Sipadan Resort, had told him that the kidnappers were asking the 10-million-ringgit ransom. "Joy called up Tuesday night to inform us that the kidnappers were demanding 10 million Malaysian ringgits," he told the INQUIRER yesterday. 

The ransom demand was disclosed Tuesday afternoon by resort officials in a closed-door conference with its workers and representatives of the Malaysian police in a port town in Sabah, Rodriguez quoted Joy as saying. He also said she told him that the resort management had urged the Malaysian government to help raise the ransom because the resort could only come up with 5 million ringgits. 

5 more arrested 

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian police chief Norian Mai said they could not verify reports on the location of the hostages as they had yet to receive official word from the Philippine authorities. 

Malaysian police said another five suspects had been arrested over the hostage-taking incident, bringing the total number of suspects detained to 10. The five were picked up late Tuesday a police source told AFP. They were boatmen and former resort workers on Sipadan and Mabul islands, east of Malaysia's Sabah state, he said. 

Five others had been detained earlier this week to assist in police investigations. They are suspected of knowing some of the gunmen or helping them. --With reports from Donna S. Cueto, Dona Z. Pazzibugan; AP and AFP