Barter ban and threat of military strike helped free sailors

KOTA KINABALU: A two-month barter trade ban between Sabah and southern Philippines and an imminent operation by the Philippines military to flush out Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo led to the freedom of the four Malaysian seamen who had been held hostage since April 1.

The four Sarawakians – brothers Wong Teck Kang, 31, and Wong Teck Chii, 29, their cousin, Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21, and Wong Hung Sing, 34 – were released at the coastal village of Patikul on Tuesday night.