| POSSIBLE LOCATION OF HOSTAGES STILL
UNCONFIRMED KUALA
LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Police say they still cannot confirm yet various reports
from the Philippines about the location of 21 people taken hostage by armed pirates who
raided Sipadan Island off Sabah last Sunday.
The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai said Wednesday various quarters have
been making claims of the hostages being held on certain islands or spots.
But police still could not verify these claims until they receive official words from the
Philippine authorities, Norian told Bernama in an interview here.
"A provincial governor may say the hostages are in Basilan, Jolo or Tawi-Tawi but
there's nothing affirmative," Norian said in the interview at his office at the
federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
Likewise, Norian said, there was nothing definite about the group holding the hostages, be
it the Abu Sayyaf gang or others, given that southern Philippines is home to many of them.
The IGP said it was also difficult for the Philippine government to deal the hostage
crisis because several factions had stayed out of the peace accord signed between Manila
and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari.
"This is typical of international terrorist groups. If this is done by the
international terrorists, normally it cannot be resolved within a short period. They have
their strategies like what is being done by the Abu Sayyaf group now in the
Philippines," he said.
The group is holding at least 27 hostages, mainly schoolchildren in their mountain lair in
the Southern Philippines. On Sunday, the military launched a massive assault to try and
free the captives held since last month and 20 rebels were believed killed.
"If it is done by an international terrorist group, we have to be mentally prepared
for a long (hostage crisis)," he said.
The Abu Sayyaf group, fighting for an independent state in Southern Philippines, claimed
responsibility for the kidnapping in Sipadan.
Norian also denied talk that security had been lax and that armed pirates could "walk
in and out" as and when they liked in some coastal towns in Sabah.
He said armed pirates raids of the scale of the Sunday incident in Sipadan last happened
four years ago in Semporna in Sabah's east coast when gunmen robbed a goldsmith in
Semporna.
Three months after this March 23, 1996 incident, police shot dead four armed pirates, also
near the Semporna waters.
Twenty heavily armed pirates with sophisticated assault rifles and rocket launchers raided
another coastal town, Lahad Datu, on Sept 24, 1984 killing eight people in the Standard
Chartered Bank, which they robbed of RM60,000.
The IGP said: "Of course there have been people being robbed at sea but these were
mostly petty thefts. The one that took place in Sipadan appeared to involve a wider motive
and is an isolated case".
He said pirates struck not only in Sabah waters but also in the Straits of Melaka, the
Singapore Straits and these were beyond the jurisdiction of the Malaysian police.
But Norian agreed that although it was an isolated case, the incident such as Sipadan's
which involved foreign tourists and thus attracting international media coverage, was
serious enough to warrant beefed-up efforts against piracies in Malaysian waters.
He also clarified press reports about the closure of Sipadan to tourists, saying the
island is still open to visitors.
"The decision made is to continue to keep Pulau Sipadan opened to tourists and the
public according to existing procedures as Sipadan is popular among tourists.
"Applications are required to go there. As it is small, we cannot just go there. The
island is not closed," he said.
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