By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – Six Indonesian sailors whose colleagues were abducted by gunmen off the southern Philippines in the latest hijacking in the Sulu Sea were escorted back home Saturday by Indonesian warships.
A commander of one of the two warships said his team was instructed to bring home the 13-crewmember tugboat after the government verified that some of those on board were abducted Monday off the Philippine island province of Sulu — a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
“We discovered the boat in the Strait of Makassar. When we found it, six of the crew were alive and no one was hurt,” metrotvnews.com quoted Maj. Listya Budi as saying.
The six sailors reportedly appeared tired when they arrived in Semayang Port in East Kalimantan province and refused to speak with media — with one of them, Syahril, only saying, “we are healthy.”
On Friday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi confirmed that seven of the crew from the tugboat, which was towing a barge carrying coal, had been kidnapped by gunmen.
“Indonesia’s government has decided to continue a moratorium on coal shipments, and will continue it until we get a security guarantee from the Philippines,” she announced, adding that 90 percent of the southern Philippines’ coal needs were imported from Indonesia.
Dian Megawati, the wife of one of the abducted sailors, said her husband Ismail had contacted her Wednesday on the kidnappers’ orders, and told her to inform journalists, local polices, the Indonesian government and shipping firm PT PP Rusianto Bersaudara.
“At the end of the communication, my husband told me to be prepared for a 20 million ringgit [$4.8 million] ransom demand,” kompas.com quoted her as saying earlier this week.
Between April and June, at least 18 Indonesian and Malaysian sailors were abducted in waters between the archipelagoes in a series of kidnappings in which the Abu Sayyaf had a role.
On Monday, defense officials of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to conduct trilateral maritime and air patrols in the three countries’ maritime areas of common concern, particularly in the Sulu Sea, to beef up regional security and thwart criminal activities at sea.
The Sulu Sea is a popular route for cargo and passenger ships, with some vessels falling prey to pirates and kidnappers, while others use the route for smuggling.
Kidnap-for-ransom gangs also frequently operate in the island provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.
They are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.
The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated villages in the Mindanao island region.
Last week, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a second Canadian hostage after a deadline set by the group for the delivery of a 600 million peso ($13 million) ransom was missed.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf group – armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles – has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
