Three Abu Sayyaf hostages rescued by Philippine police

KOTA KINABALU: After more than a year as Abu Sayyaf captives, three Indonesian fishermen can finally go home following their rescue by Philippine police on Thursday (March 18).

The three hostages - Arsad Dahlan, Arizal Kasta Miran and Andi Riswanto, snatched from a fishing vessel in waters off Tambisan, Lahad Datu, on Jan 15 last year - were found when Philippine authorities responded to a distress call at about 5.30pm.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said on Friday (March 19) that according to their Philippine counterparts, the captives and a fourth man were found on a sinking boat.

The boat was reported to have sprung a leak in the waters of Pasigan Laut, South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi.

“The Philippine police received a report about the sinking boat, went to rescue the victims, and found that three of them were hostages,” he said when contacted.

He said it was a stroke of luck for the victims and the authorities, as they managed to bring the hostages to safety without having to worry about ransom demands.

Information from regional intelligence sources revealed that the fourth person on the boat was actually an Abu Sayyaf gunman.

The gunman, Suhud Salasim @ Ben Wagas, is believed to be a footsoldier for notorious Abu Sayyaf sub-commander Mike Apo, who is responsible for kidnappings in Sabah waters.

It is not clear why Suhud was in waters off Tawi-Tawi, far from Abu Sayyafs's Jolo Island base, but it is believed he was on the run from authorities.

The three hostages were among five fishermen taken from Tambisan.

One of the five was killed on Sept 28 during a military rescue operation while another managed to escape.

The three remaining hostages, who worked with a Sandakan-based fishing company, were moved from place to place in Jolo by their captors to evade discovery by the Philippine military.

Comm Hazani said the case would be taken over by Indonesian authorities because their citizens were involved.

“The hostages will be sent back to their hometown in Indonesia after investigations are complete,” he said, adding that Malaysian authorities would also keep tabs on updates in the case.