| IGP DESPATCHED
TO THE PHILIPPINES TO HANDLE ABDUCTION CASE KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri
Norian Mai has been despatched to the Philippines to personally handle efforts to secure
the release of 21 people, including 10 Malaysians, kidnapped from Sipadan Island off Sabah
last Sunday by gunmen.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had
instructed Norian to work out with his Philippine counterpart the best approach to deal
with the situation.
"I've instructed him to consider the best of options to secure the release of the
captives," Abdullah told reporters here today.
Norian, who is also spokesman for the special Malaysian committee dealing with the
kidnapping, is accompanied by several other senior officers.
As of yesterday, according to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) information chief
Ibrahim Omar, the captives were being held in Talipao in Jolo province in southern
Philippines.
In last Sunday's incident, six men armed with AK-47 rifles and a bazooka kidnapped 10
Malaysians alongside three Germans, two French nationals, two Finns, two South Africans, a
Lebanese and a Filipino.
Abdullah said whatever Norian and fellow crisis managers on the Philippine side discussed
and agreed upon as well as their combined actions would not be publicised.
He said he would leave it to the crisis managers themselves to ensure a safe and smooth
end to the problem as insisted by governments of the captives concerned.
Abdullah added that his instruction to Norian was that safe release of the captives should
be uppermost.
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