Company to pay Abu Sayyaf US$1.1m for release of kidnapped sailors: Indonesian Minister

From Channel News Asia (Apr 19): Company to pay Abu Sayyaf US$1.1m for release of kidnapped sailors: Indonesian Minister

Negotiations for the handover of the money and the captives are still ongoing, said Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan.

SINGAPORE: The company of the 10 kidnapped sailors held by Abu Sayyaf has agreed to pay a ransom of 50 million pesos (US$1.1m), Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said on Tuesday (Apr 19).

Negotiations for the handover of the money and the captives are still ongoing, said Mr Luhut. "They've already agreed that the 50 million pesos will be handed over at a specific location," he said, according to Indonesian newspaper Republika.
The sailors were kidnapped in waters off the conflict-racked southern Philippines by Abu Sayyaf militants on Mar 29.

The crew were travelling on a tugboat pulling a barge from Borneo island to the Philippines when they were hijacked, Indonesian and Philippine officials said.

Hijackers on a wooden motor boat are thought to have abducted the sailors on Saturday. The vessels' owners received a ransom call from someone claiming to be from the Abu Sayyaf militant group the same day.

"Communications with the group taking hostage of the 10 Indonesians is smoother than with the other group holding four Indonesians," said Mr Luhut.

On Friday, four Indonesian were kidnapped by a group of armed men when their vessels was hijacked between the Malaysian and Philippine waterways.

A statement from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said a fifth sailor was shot during the hijacking incident, and Malaysian maritime police managed to rescue the sailor who is now in a stable condition.

Five other crewmen were also rescued and brought to the port in Lahad Datu in Malaysia.

Abu Sayyaf is a Philippines-based extremist group notorious for bombings and kidnappings, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Before the latest case, their most recent high-profile kidnapping was of two Canadians and a Norwegian from yachts at a marina in September, with the militants setting an April deadline for a huge ransom to be paid.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/company-to-pay-abu-sayyaf/2710404.html