| MALAYSIA WILLING TO NEGOTIATE WITH SIPADAN
KIDNAPPERS, SAYS PM ALOR SETAR, April 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is willing to negotiate with the
gunmen who kidnapped 21 people on Sipadan island last Sunday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr
Mahathir Mohamad said.
Dr Mahathir said: "We'll do anything to secure the release of the captives.
"We're not discounting any options to secure their release."
The prime minister told reporters this when approached at the airport here before
returning to Kuala Lumpur after a one-day working visit to Kedah.
He was asked whether the government would negotiate with the kidnappers for the release of
their captives.
"We'll try to negotiate first. Even with the (Japanese) Red Army we did that,"
he said.
The prime minister made reference to Japanese terrorists who raided and took hostages in
the AIA building in Kuala Lumpur.
In last Sunday's incident, six men armed with AK-47 rifles and a bazooka kidnapped 10
Malaysians, three Germans, two French nationals, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese
and a Filipino.
Asked whether the government was prepared to meet the kidnappers' demands, if at all they
did make them, Dr Mahathir said: "We don't know."
To another question, the prime minister said he was unsure of the authenticity of a
newspaper report about the kidnappers demanding a RM10-million ransom for the release of
their captives.
Nor could he verify reports of the kidnappers' willingness to free the Malaysians among
the captives, the prime minister said.
Dr Mahathir also said that Malaysia would accept outside assistance to resolve the
problem.
Malaysian police,navy and the air force were still placed on high alert and patrolling the
scene of the incident as well as international waters there.
To another question, Dr Mahathir added that he would leave it to the security experts to
adopt the best approach for operations in such crisis situation.
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