Tags
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped another Indonesian sailor in the Sulu Sea where numerous seafarers have been abducted by Islamist extremists in recent months, officials said Sunday.
The kidnapping took place Wednesday off the northeast of Sabah state on the Malaysian side of Borneo island, Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia said.
"(The vessel) was intercepted by a boat carrying four armed men," ambassador Herman Prayitno told AFP.
The kidnappers took the Indonesian captain after failing to get the 10,000 ringgit ($2,500) they demanded, Prayitno added. They released the two other crew members, an Indonesian and a Malaysian.
Indonesia's foreign ministry said it was still trying to find out which group was responsible.
Malaysia's marine police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah told AFP authorities were questioning the two crew members from the boat about the case.
The kidnapping is the latest in a string of incidents in the Sulu Sea, where groups of armed men have ambushed fishing vessels and seized Malaysian and Indonesian citizens for ransom.
Ten other Indonesians kidnapped in recent months by the Philippine Abu Sayyaf extremist group are still being held.
Jakarta has banned Indonesian-flagged vessels from sailing to the Philippines and pushed for joint maritime patrols in the waterway.
A handful of Malaysian sailors have also been kidnapped this year.
The Abu Sayyaf, who are based on remote and mountainous southern Philippine islands, beheaded two Canadian hostages this year after their multi-million-dollar ransom demands were not met. In 2015 they killed a Malaysian hostage.
The group is a loose network of a few hundred Islamist militants, formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.