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Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ April 24, 2000, The Associated Press / Seattle Times, Philippine rebels are vague about role in abduction of 20, by Ranjan Roy,

April 24, 2000, The Associated Press / Seattle Times, Philippine rebels are vague about role in abduction of 20, by Ranjan Roy,

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Sipadan

April 24, 2000, The Associated Press / Seattle Times, Philippine rebels are vague about role in abduction of 20, by Ranjan Roy,

SEMPORNA, Malaysia - Rescue teams were searching Southeast Asian seas today for 20 hostages abducted from a Malaysian diving resort.

Muslim rebels in the Philippines who are seeking the release of militants imprisoned in the World Trade Center bombing case claimed responsibility today for the Malaysian kidnapping, but later retreated from the claim.

"I'm not saying that we are the ones," said Abu Sayyaf rebel spokesman Abu Ahmad. "I'm also not saying we are not the ones."

An American couple escaped Sunday evening's attack in Malaysia by refusing to swim out to the kidnappers' boats and then hiding overnight in nearby bushes.

Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said yesterday that an air-and-sea search team had determined where the hostages - half of whom were foreign tourists - were being held, after their abduction on lush Sipadan Island in eastern Malaysia. Najib did not give details.

Five people have been arrested and were being interrogated in connection with the abduction, Mamat said today.

Nafir Sakaran, a state Cabinet minister at police headquarters in Semporna, told The Associated Press today that marine police and navy reinforcements have been brought in.

The attack began when six masked gunmen, carrying AK-47s and a rocket launcher and speaking a Philippine language, grabbed tourists and workers and confiscated cash and jewelry, officials said.

The attackers then forced their hostages to swim to two fishing boats, which then sped away and appeared to be heading into Philippine waters, officials said.

Eyewitnesses said two of the captives - James and Mary Murphy, both 51, of Rochester, N.Y. - managed to escape after James Murphy told the assailants his wife didn't know how to swim. When the kidnappers turned around, the American couple ran into the bushes and hid until dawn.

The Murphys arrived in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, last night. James Murphy said today they didn't want to talk extensively about the ordeal for fear that it would endanger the other hostages.

"We don't want our comments to overshadow anything that's going on with the situation," he said.

The hostages forced onto the fishing boats were two French tourists, three Germans, two South Africans, two Finns and one Lebanese, as well as a Filipino worker and nine Malaysians, authorities said.

In Basilan, Philippines, Philippine troops shelled rebel camps again today as soldiers battled their way up a mountain where Abu Sayyaf rebels were holding 27 Filipinos captive.

The rebels have demanded the freedom of three Arab terrorist suspects in U.S. prisons, including Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, and Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, accused of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.

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