UPDATES TO LINK PHOTOS
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – Four Indonesian sailors released after nearly a month in captivity in the southern Philippines arrived in Jakarta on Friday.
An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman told Anadolu Agency that the men, who were released by Daesh-linked militants earlier this week in the Philippines’ majority Muslim Sulu province, will undergo physical and psychological examinations.
“After that, they will be handed over to their families,” Arrmanatha Nasir said.
He said Philippine authorities had escorted the sailors to an Indonesian warship in waters between the countries Thursday.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi greeted the men upon their arrival Friday morning at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in eastern Jakarta.
“We would like to thank all parties for their assistance in the release,” detik.com quoted her as saying.
Earlier this month, Abu Sayyaf militants released 10 other Indonesian sailors, for whose release 50 million pesos ($1 million) had been demanded, turning them over to the governor of the Sulu.
Their release came six days after the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a 68-year-old Canadian hostage after a 300-million peso ($6 million) ransom failed to be paid.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla insisted Thursday that Indonesia’s government had again refused to pay a ransom for the four men released earlier this week.
“I think they were not [freed because of any ransom]. The government must not [pay ransom],” kompas.com quoted him as saying.
Nasir also said that ransom demands had not been met in both cases, and the latest release resulted from diplomacy during a trilateral meeting with the Philippines and Malaysia earlier this month.
“In both the release of the 10 Indonesian citizens and four citizens, the government does not have a policy of paying a ransom to hostage takers,” he told Anadolu Agency.
He said that the government would not reveal details about the negotiation process with the militant group due to safety concerns for those who assisted the efforts.
“This is the result of cooperation between various elements of Indonesia and the Philippines, including the involvement of non-government elements,” he added.
Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in the Philippines’ Zamboanga Peninsula and the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
In early April, Filipino gunmen also abducted four Malaysian crew from a vessel off the Malaysian state of Sabah, whose eastern coast is located just around 50 nautical miles from the southernmost Philippine island of Sitangkai.
The Abu Sayyaf is believed to still be holding several captives, including a Canadian, a Norwegian and a Filipino woman seized in September and a Dutch national kidnapped more than three years ago in Tawi-Tawi.
Since 1991, the group — armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles — has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
