| PIRATES AND HOSTAGES
LOCATED, SAYS DEFENCE MINISTER
ALOR SETAR, April 24 (Bernama)
-- The location of the 20 people taken hostage by armed pirates who raided the Sipadan
island off Sabah Sunday night has been identified.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday evening:"We now know their
exact location."
Najib however declined to elaborate when approached by reporters here today for the latest
situation report on the incident.
Najib said the pirates are not Malaysians.
A Malaysian crisis management team was mapping out strategies to handle with the
situation, he said.
The Defence Ministry had despatched a patrol boat and a maritime surveillance aircraft to
the location where the pirates are holding the hostages.
"The ministry has also placed all its units on alert," said Najib.
Najib said the ministry was standing by to provide logistical support should the police
need to despatch reinforcement urgently.
But he gave a non-committal reply when asked whether military or police commandos would be
sent to free the hostages given that the pirates were reportedly armed with
rocket-launchers, among other weapons.
Najib assured tourists that ensuring their safety was of prime importance to the
government and it was taking measures towards this end.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said all the 20 hostages
are safe.
News of the attack reached Tawau on Sabah's east coast at about 8pm last night, about an
hour after the pirates struck on the island.
Sipadan island is a popular resort especially among scuba-divers.
The international waters bordering Sabah, Southern Philippines and Eastern Indonesia are
pirate-infested with several incidents reported in the last few years.
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