Lahad Datu Waters Face Robbery And Possible Kidnapping By Unknown Gunmen

Two Germans on board a yacht went missing in the high seas between Palawan in the Philippines and Sabah, raising fears that they were abducted by Abu Sayyaf members, a notorious kidnap-for-ransom group.

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Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the alleged kidnapping occurred in Palawan waters and not Sabah’s northern Kudat as claimed by some reports. "It has nothing to do with Sabah," he said.

Dr Stefan Viktor Okonek, 72, and Henrite Dielen, 42, who were island-hopping in the Mindanao area was found missing from their yacht in the seas near Palawan area that neighbours Sabah’s northern Kudat. There are suspicions that they were taken by Abu Sayyaf extremists to Jolo.

Philippines Armed Forces (AFP) Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that based on the Philippine Coast Guard report, the two left Palawan for Sabah on April 25 after going island-hopping in Mindanao.
He said the yacht has been recovered but the Germans were nowhere to be found.

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Deveraturda said thus far no one had come forward to claim responsibility over the duo’s disappearance. “It must be confirmed who are holding them. We don’t want to discount anything because our contacts have not yet confirmed (if they have been abducted). “So everything is still open or possible. We are still exerting effort. In the meantime, we consider them as missing persons,” he said.

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LAHAD DATU: Police have called off an intensive search for kidnapped farm manager Yang Zai Lin as they believe he has been taken into a notorious Abu Sayyaf stronghold at Jolo Island in southern Philippines.

Philippines officials are indicating that the group that abducted him could have entered Jolo Island late on Tuesday as an intensive search along the Tawi Tawi chain of islands straddling Sabah sea borders failed to make any sighting of the abductors or their speedboat.

The Philippines Navy, coastguards, and the police launched a hunt for the gunmen on Tuesday morning after the Malaysian authorities informed them of the latest abduction. “I was informed by the Naval Task Force 62 commander that the gunmen had entered the Sulu area, so we called off the operations,” Col Salido said.

Tawi Tawi police chief Col Joey Salido said they called off the air and sea hunt for the suspects after they received reports that the gunmen had entered the Sulu province.

The Sulu officials said, however, that they have not received any information on the whereabouts of the gunmen and the kidnapped fish farm manager, Zailin Yang.

A curfew and travel restrictions will be imposed in high risk areas off the coast of Sabah following the latest kidnapping, said Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman. These measures are expected to be imposed on the waters off Lahad Datu and Sandakan soon.

Musa said he called an emergency meeting of Sabah’s State Security Committee (JKNN) today after hearing of the abduction, adding that they decided on “drastic measures” to secure public safety, including the setting up of control areas where entry would be restricted. “Whoever who enters the controlled areas would need to get approval and permits from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).”

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The committee will also enforce curfews “in risky areas where no movements are allowed” and the police will monitor the areas , Musa said. The statement did identify the areas under curfew. It also did not state the hours of the curfew.

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Musa, who is also chairman of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), said in high-risk areas, with boats and ships only allowed to use approved, designated routes. Other measures include boosting security forces with more speedboats deployed in high-risk areas. Musa said the “mother ship” concept would be used, where a mid-sea platform or hub would be used to allow for quicker and cheaper refueling of speedboats. He added that a base would be set up at a strategic spot to monitor the safety of Sabah’s coast.

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He said there would be changes in the structure and organisation of Esscom, adding that an improved radar system would also be introduced. “We will also improve the capabilities of security forces specifically in terms of logistics such as speed boats,” he added.

The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) is under the spotlight again after four gunmen clad in army fatigues pulled off a robbery in the waters off Tanjung Labian.

themalaysianinsider.com

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib, in confirming the incident, said the four gunmen, armed with at least three M16 rifles, robbed the fishermen of three outboard engines, comprising two 15 horse-power engines and a pump boat engine, close to Sungai Bilis, close to midnight. “It was dark and the victims could see gunmen in camouflaged attire and holding rifles,” he said.

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In the 11pm incident, the four suspects believed clad in camouflage uniform approached their victims who were fishing close to the heavily guarded Tanjung Labian. Prior to the robbery, Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the suspects had made a racist remark.

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"According to the victims, suspects spoke in Malay language and were armed with long barrelled firearms. "The suspects robbed four engines from four boats belonging to the fishermen," he said when contacted, adding the victims were not harmed.

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Authorities were alerted to the incident after a police patrol team came across the three victims paddling back to the coast today. The victims later lodged separate police reports and stated that they had been robbed of two 15-horsepower motors and one pump boat motor, the Star reported.

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Unofficial reports claimed that gunmen had grabbed the Chinese national identified as Yang Zailin, who is a manager of Wonderful Terrace Sdn Bhd, a company operating a fish farm in the area at about 2.45am on Tuesday.

A Chinese national is believed to have been kidnapped from a fish farm in Lahad Datu’s Silam, hardly 24-hours after pirates robbed fishermen in waters off Tanjung Labian.

No further details were available as senior police and Esscom officials were at the scene and conducting follow up operations.

Tanjung Labian, including Sungai Bilis, was the centre of Malaysian security forces operations to flush out Sulu gunmen who fled to the area following the shootout in neighbouring Kampung Tanduo on March 1 last year.

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Both police and Esscom officers are investigating if the pirates were locals or foreigners. Patrols in the area have also been increased to track down the robbers, who could be beyond Malaysia's borders.

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To a question whether the suspects were part of Sulu gunmen or pirates, Hamza said it was difficult to say as the incident occured at night. "We have classified this case as robbery and we are investigating to find out who are these suspects and how they arrived there undetected."

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