Tourists abducted from Sipadan 'safe'<\/p>\n
SEMPORNA, Malaysia (AP): Two Americans who escaped abduction
\nfrom a remote island off northeastern Borneo arrived in the
\nMalaysian capital Monday night to brief authorities, while the
\nwhereabouts of 20 other foreign tourists and local resort workers
\nremained a mystery more than 24 hours after their capture.<\/p>\n
Information relayed to authorities said the hostages were
\nsafe, according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
\nHe would not elaborate.<\/p>\n
Six heavily armed assailants surprised and then captured the
\ngroup on Sipadan Island late Sunday, said Sulaiman Junaidi,
\npolice chief of Semporna, the port city where divers catch boats
\nheaded for the lush island.<\/p>\n
The hostage-takers were speaking the Filipino language of
\nTausug, officials said. The abductors made no demands and sped
\noff in two fishing boats that appeared to be heading into
\nPhilippine waters, they said.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Inspector General of Police Norian Mai told a news
\nconference that six men carrying AK-47 rifles and a rocket
\nlauncher forced 20 people onto the boats after confiscating their
\ncash and jewelry. Other authorities have said up to 23 people
\nwere abducted.<\/p>\n
Details were fuzzy regarding the whereabouts of the hostages.
\nNorian said he did not know where they were, while Defense
\nMinister Najib Tun Razak said an air-and-sea search team had
\nlocated them.<\/p>\n
\"We now know their exact location,\" Najib said without
\nelaborating.<\/p>\n
When asked if the Malaysian government had any information on
\nthe armed hostage-takers, Syed Hamid said: \"I think the
\nauthorities are taking the necessary steps to get them released
\nfrom their captors.\"<\/p>\n
Norian said police suspected that \"political motives\" were
\nlikely behind the hostage-taking. \"We believe a foreign element
\nis involved.\"<\/p>\n
Sipadan is a world-renowned diving island off the northeast
\ncoast of Sabah, the Malaysian side of Borneo island, which is
\nshared with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The two Southeast Asian neighbors have both claimed
\nsovereignty over the island since 1969. But there were no
\nindications that the hostage-takers were involved in the
\nterritorial dispute.<\/p>\n
Philippine officials said they were investigating a possible
\nlink between the hostage-taking in Malaysia and Filipino rebels
\nwho took hostages last month on a Southern Philippine island in
\nthe same waters as Sipadan.<\/p>\n
Two Americans, James and Mary Murphy, both 51, escaped by
\nrefusing to get on the boat, according to police in Semporna.<\/p>\n
Police there said the couple was from St. George's Crescent,
\nbut they didn't know which state they were from.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses at the resort island said the hostages were
\nforced to swim to the boats. They said Mary Murphy couldn't swim
\nand when the kidnappers tried to force her, James Murphy said
\nthey'd have to shoot him if they forced her into the water.<\/p>\n
When the hostage-takers turned around, the Murphys apparently
\nran into the bushes and hid until dawn, eyewitnesses said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's foreign minister, contradicting earlier reports
\nthat many of the hostages were Americans, said the group now
\nincluded two French tourists, three Germans, two South Africans,
\ntwo Finns and one Lebanese.<\/p>\n
The hostages also included four Malaysians from the wildlife
\ndepartment and five Malaysians and one Filipino working at the
\nresort.<\/p>\n
Katja Libowski, 28, from Munich, Germany, told the AP that she
\nwas with the three German hostages until Friday, when she went to
\na neighboring island for a diving lesson. She said Werner Gunter
\nCort and Renate Juta, and their son Marc Wallert, were from
\nHanover.<\/p>\n
\"I remember waving goodbye to them before I left,\" she said.
\n\"It's a beautiful place, but I don't think I'll come back here
\nfor the next few years.\"<\/p>\n
A local marine photographer who escaped said one of the
\nkidnappers identified himself as a police officer and told him to
\ngive up his watch and cellular phone.<\/p>\n
\"At first I thought he was joking ... but when I refused to
\nobey his orders, he held a gun to my head,\" Danny Chin, 48, was
\nquoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tourists-abducted-from-sipadan-safe-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}