KL on high alert for fleeing rebels

KL on high alert for fleeing rebels

MALAYSIA: Malaysian forces were on high alert for Abu Sayyaf guerrillas fleeing the Philippine army and heading across the sea to the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, media reports said on Monday.

The Malaysian afternoon daily, Malay Mail, said 10 heavily armed Moro rebels had left Patikul on the southern Philippine Jolo island and were headed in speedboats toward islands off Sabah.

Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency said the Malaysian army had arrested 15 illegal immigrants from the Philippines trying to enter Sabah, on the northern tip of Borneo island.

But Brig. Gen. Mohamad Yasin told Bernama there were no sightings of any gunmen belonging to Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap for ransom group that claims to fight for an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

"We stop and check every boat, big or small, that crosses our maritime border round-the-clock. So far, there is nothing to indicate that members of the group have slipped into Sabah waters," said the general, who coordinates a security operation in Sabah to counter infiltration from the Philippines. -- Reuters