The Western Mindanao Command (WMC) is now conducting
intelligence operations to determine whether the three Malaysian fishermen,
earlier snatched off Sempurnah, Sabah , were
taken to Tawi-Tawi by still unidentified armed men.
This was disclosed by WMC spokesperson Major Filemon Tan in
an interview Monday.
Focus of the intelligence operations is to identify the
whereabouts of the victims and if necessary intercept and rescue them
immediately, he added.
However, Tan is not discounting the possibility that the
suspects have taken the victims into an unpopulated Malaysian-owned island due
to poor weather conditions and rough seas prevailing in Tawi-Tawi and other
nearby areas.
He also said that they were looking into two angles
regarding the abduction, one is that some criminal groups are interested in
making money out of the incident and the other is that some sympathizers of the
Abu Sayyaf, who are now being heavily-pressured in Basilan and Sulu, have
decided to conduct the kidnapping as part of the efforts to distract the
military from their ongoing operations.
Initial reports received from the Eastern Sabah Security
Command (ESSCOM) revealed that three Malaysian fisherman were abducted last
Sept. 10 in the general area of Pom Pom island near Mataking Island Resort off
Sempurnah, Sabah.
Accordingly, the abductors were comprised of seven armed men
in a two 75-hp engine green and white speedboat.
ESSCOM claimed that the boat sped off towards northeast in
the direction of Alice reef and Bulubulu Island Sabah territory.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=922315
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