DATE=4/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MALAYSIA-PHILIPPINES/HOSTAGES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261675
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A Muslim extremist group in the southern
Philippines has claimed responsibility for the
kidnapping of 20 people from a Malaysian resort
island. But as Ron Corben reports from V-O-A's
Southeast Asia Bureau, authorities are questioning the
claim.
TEXT: The Abu Sayyaf group -- Islamic separatists
fighting a guerilla war in the southern Philippines --
has claimed to have kidnapped the 20 people, including
10 foreign tourists.
They were taken Sunday from the Malaysian resort
island of Sipadan off the coast of Sabah in Borneo,
close to the southern Philippines. The six heavily
armed kidnappers sped off by boat with the hostages.
Philippines and Malaysian naval forces are searching
for the hostages.
An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Ahmad, says the guerillas
were behind the attack, adding there are still more
surprises for the Philippine government if the group
is ignored.
But the Southern Philippines military commander,
Lieutenant General Diomedio Villanueva, says there is
no confirmation that Abu Sayyaf is behind the
abductions. The general also says there are reports
the hostages are still in Malaysian territory.
Malaysian Defense Minister, Najib Tun Razak says an
air-and-sea search has determined where the hostages
are being held -- but he did not give details.
The hostage drama involving a group of scuba divers
and holiday resort workers from the Sipadan resort
began late Sunday evening, as the guests and resort
staff were in the dining hall.
The six masked gunmen, armed with a bazooka and M-16
assault rifles, raided the diving resort.
An American couple escaped into woods on the island
before the captors ordered the hostages into two
boats.
Abu Sayyaf, a group accused of terrorist bombings and
kidnappings, has held nearly 30 hostages for the past
month on Basilan island in the southern Philippines.
The Philippine armed forces launched an operation
against Abu Sayyaf last weekend. More than 15-hundred
troops were sent to the region where the hostages --
mostly children and their teachers -- are being held
in a jungle hideout.
The Abu Sayyaf group claimed last week it had beheaded
two of the male hostages.
The group has demanded the release of Islamic
militants held in U-S jails, including one involved in
the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New
York, and another accused of conspiring to blow up New
York City landmarks
NEB/RC/FC/JP
25-Apr-2000 01:16 AM EDT (25-Apr-2000 0516 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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