Philippine militants demand ransom for kidnapped Malaysian trader

2011-05-21 21:56:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- A Philippine militant group is demanding ransom for a Malaysian trader it has been holding captive in the Philippine province of Sulu since May 8, the Inquirer Mindanao reported on Saturday.

The Abu Sayyaf is demanding an P8-million ($185,528) ransom and would like to have an initial down payment of P5 million ($116,000). Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, said it was not clear whether the self-styled Islamist group would free Mohammad Nazaruddin Bin Saidin if and when such initial payment is made.

He said the Malaysian consul general called Inspector Mohammad Khan Kamlon, chief of the police in Indanan, Sulu, on May 16 to inform him about the ransom demand made by the group.

Saidin, 38, was forcibly taken by the al-Qaeda-linked rebels from his host's house in the village Kajatian around midnight of May 8. He was in the town of Indanan on Jolo island to buy geckos, which are in demand in his home state for its supposedly curative properties.

"The victim arrived in Jolo last April 30 and he had travel documents and clearance from the Bureau of Immigration," Chief Superintendent Beinvenido Latag, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said.

The al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf is a band of self-styled Islamists that has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines and high-profile kidnappings involving foreign hostages.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-21

Why would anyone go there in the first place? If you want to trade with them make the come to you.

Abu Sayyaf claims to be the Filipino branch of al Qaeda. Yet they are simple crooks whose only goal is to raise money by criminal means. And now they are attacking a fellow Muslim? Just goes to prove their motives.