KL plans relocating remote islanders

KL plans relocating remote islanders

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has
proposed evacuating the inhabitants of nearly 100 remote islands
off northeastern Borneo to protect them against Muslim rebels
from the southern Philippines, Malaysia's defense minister said
on Thursday.

Najib Tun Razak said police and military officials would
survey the islands to decide whether the Abu Sayyaf rebel group
poses enough of a security threat to warrant relocating these
islanders elsewhere.

Defense authorities have deployed hundreds of troops to guard
more than a dozen islands off Borneo after Abu Sayyaf members
trespassed into Malaysia for the second time this year and
abducted three Malaysians from a remote diving resort Sept. 10.

The separatist group, which claims to be battling for an
Islamic state in the southern Philippines, previously stormed
another Malaysian resort in April and kidnapped 21 people,
including foreign tourists.