Philippine militants free Malaysian hostage

Paid huge ransom, but police officials deny money changed hands

MANILA, Philippines, Oct 10, (AP): Abu Sayyaf militants have freed a Malaysian restaurant manager after six months of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, but her compatriot remains in their custody in the latest cross-border kidnappings to alarm Malaysia, officials said Monday.

The militants released Thien Nyuk Fun late Sunday in a hinterland village in Indanan town in Sulu province. She was then brought by Malaysian security escorts by boat to neighboring Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo Island, according to two Filipino security officers who help monitor Muslim militants.

The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters, said another Malaysian, Bernard Then Ted Fen, remains in the hands of the militants led by Alhabsy Misaya in predominantly Muslim Sulu, an impoverished region 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila.

They said a huge ransom was paid for Thien’s freedom, but Malaysian police officials denied

The latest PKK attack occurred before dawn as the convoy, escorted by a police vehicle, entered Yuksekova district in Hakkari province near the Iranian border, said the sources, adding one police officer was wounded. The armed forces confirmed in a statement that a soldier had died.

Areas of the southeast have been intermittently subject to round-the-clock curfews in response to the conflict. Security sources said six people have died in clashes in the town of Silvan in Diyarbakir province since a curfew began there eight days ago.

Last Thursday, the PKK ended a month-old ceasefire that it declared ahead of a Nov. 1 election. That vote was won by the AK Party founded by President Tayyip Erdogan, who subsequently vowed to fight the PKK until all fighters were “liquidated”.

Erdogan has overseen a peace process launched with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in late 2012 but talks were frozen in April and the European Commission called on Tuesday for the revival of the process.

“The settlement process of the Kurdish issue came to a halt despite earlier positive developments on the issue. It is imperative that the peace talks resume,” the European Commission said in its annual report on Turkey.

The PKK, which wants autonomy for Turkey’s large Kurdish minority, is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and European Union.

It took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurdish militants, have died in the conflict.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on Tuesday for the introduction of an executive presidential system based on a balanced separation of powers, saying the current system created tensions between the president and prime minister.

In a live interview with state broadcaster TRT, Davutoglu said the government could discuss a new constitution and the “struggle against terrorism” with opposition parties. A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) shows Saudi King Salman (right), meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo

Renzi (left), in Riyadh on Nov 9. (AFP) money had changed hands.

The two Malaysians were taken at gunpoint in a restaurant in Sandakan city in Sabah in May despite a considerably stronger security enforced by Malaysia following a series of abductions by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sabah.

Armed by assault rifles and traveling on powerful speedboats, the militants have crossed the sea border to carry out kidnappings in Malaysia at least six times in the last two years, including the latest one. In their most brazen raid, the militants kidnapped 21 mostly European tourists and Asian workers from Malaysia’s Sipadan dive resort and took their hostages to Sulu to be ransomed off.

In Sabah’s capital city of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said without elaborating that Thien was released following months of negotiations. He thanked all those who worked to secure the 50-year-old seafood restaurant manager, according to the Malaysian news agency Bernama.

“I urge the relevant authorities to remain vigilant at all times and keep our borders secure from further intrusion,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said Thien “is healthy but weak and tired due to the long journey and also from the emotional aspect.” Efforts were underway to rescue the other Malaysian, Bernama quoted Jalaluddin as saying.

The United States and the Philippines have separately blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for kidnappings, beheadings, extortion and bomb attacks. The al-Qaeda-linked militants have been weakened but have survived more than a decade of US-backed offensives.

The Abu Sayyaf has been suspected of carrying out the kidnappings of two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina from a marina in the south in September. Militants who identified themselves as belonging to the Abu Sayyaf in an online video have demanded more than $60 million for the freedom of the three foreigners.