Malaysia's worst fears come true as kidnappers
strike Sabah again
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, Sept
11 (AFP) - Just three weeks after its last hostages, seized in April, returned home to a
hero's welcome, Malaysia's worst nightmare has come true.
Kidnappers, believed to be from
the southern Philippines, returned to the idyllic tropical islands which dot Sabah's
eastern coastline and seized three workers from a dive resort on Pandanan island Sunday
evening.
Pandanan is about 35 minutes by
boat from Sipadan island, where nine Malaysians and 12 foreigners were seized by Abu
Sayyaf Filipino Muslim guerrillas on April 23.
Land, sea and air forces were
on high alert after the Sipadan drama, which dealt a blow to tourism in the beautiful and
largely unspoilt easternmost state.
But analysts said there was no
foolproof way of stopping Muslim rebels or criminals in the southern Philippines from
seizing more captives -- especially after ransom payments totalling millions of dollars
were reportedly made for the Sipadan captives.
They cited the length of the
coastline -- almost 400 kilometres (250 miles) -- and its proximity to several islands in
Philippine waters.
Off Sabah's east coast there
are almost 200 small islands, of which only 52 are inhabited.
"Pulau Pandanan (Pandanan
island) is small and not all islands can be guarded," said Deputy Premier Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi, when asked whether poor security was to blame for the latest kidnapping.
He said police were
investigating whether the latest gang was also from the Abu Sayyaf -- self-styled Muslim
independence fighters whose main motivation appeared to be money.
The Malaysian government denied
paying any ransom to the Abu Sayyaf. However, reports in the Philippines said freelance
mediators redeemed six of the Malaysians and a German woman for 5.5 million dollars.
Sabah also has a huge
population of mainly Filipino illegal immigrants, meaning that would-be kidnappers can
blend in easily. Many people from each country also cross the sea border daily to trade or
just to visit relatives.
An unofficial count puts the
number of illegal immigrants in Sabah at around 500,000 -- mainly Filipinos but also
Indonesians.
Over the past two decades there
have been a series of incidents in Sabah involving criminals known or suspected to be from
the lawless southern Philippines.
In 1979, pirates hijacked a
ferry carrying some 70 local and foreign passengers. They were released a few days later
after being robbed.
Malaysian police said they
killed several pirates in a shootout soon afterwards.
In September 1985, 11 people
were killed and several injured when 15 pirates landed in Lahad Datu town and opened fire
at random before robbing a bank.
Police and troops pursued the
pirates and reportedly killed several.
In February 1996 a group of six
pirates stormed the police station at Semporna near Sipadan and held officers captive
while accomplices robbed a goldsmith shop.
In June that year Semporna
police shot dead eight pirates who robbed fishermen.
During a visit to the state in
May, defence mMinister, Najib Razak said imposing tight security in Sabah's eastern waters
may be impractical, even though navy patrols had been strengthened.
"We have to bear in mind
the conditions in the area. There's a lot of people moving in and out on a daily basis who
are not criminals," Najib said at the time.
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