Malaysians taken by suspected RI pirates

Malaysians taken by suspected RI pirates

MALAYSIA: Machine-gun-wielding pirates attacked at least two Malaysian fishing boats in the Strait of Malacca early on Monday and abducted two fishermen, officials and witnesses said.

Fishing crews from two Malaysian boats described a large trawler approaching them in the strait shortly after midnight. They were boarded by gunmen, whom the sailors suspected were Indonesians and who demanded to know who the captain was, national news agency Bernama, reported.

One of the skippers was taken away on the trawler. In the other incident, the brother of the captain was taken after the skipper told the kidnappers he was ill, Bernama reported.

Ho Cheng Wang, an assemblyman from Perak state near where the abductions occurred, said authorities were investigating reports of two more boardings overnight on Monday. --AP