0

A ransom was paid to Abu Sayyaf militants in Southern Philippines last week to secure the release of the four Malaysian hostages abducted by the group earlier.

This revelation was made by the now-freed hostages themselves, the Sin Chew Daily reported.

The four, namely Wong Teck Kang, 31; Wong Teck Chii, 29; Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21; and Wong Hung Sing, 34; held a press conference this morning in Sibu to thank those who contributed towards the ransom demanded, which according to previous reports, amounted to some RM400,000.

The four wouldn’t however, reveal the actual amount paid to the kidnappers for their release.

During this morning’s press conference, the four men knelt to show their gratitude to well-wishers who had helped their respective families during their 69 days in captivity.

The information the four revealed however was in contrast to that of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar, who denied last week that a ransom had been paid to the kidnappers.




The IGP also denied that the families of the abducted had passed the ransom money collected from the public, to the police.

Previous news reports also stated that the families of the victims had been bombarded with calls from members of the public, demanding to know what had happened to the ransom money they had raised.

The four men were abducted from a tugboat by gunmen in international waters off Pulau Ligitan in Sabah on April 1 and released on June 9.

The gunmen had initially demanded a ransom of 300 million pesos (about RM30 million) for the release of the four, but the amount was subsequently dropped to 180 million pesos (about RM18 million).

Several rounds of negotiations reportedly took place between the militants and Malaysian and Filipino authorities prior to their release.

The four were taken for an eight-hour ride from Jolo, in the Philippines to Sandakan after the conclusion of successful negotiations, and were then flown to Kota Kinabalu, where police recorded their statements.


Source –FMT-



Post a Comment

 
Top