Location of gunmen and kidnap victim is still not known
Published on: Sunday, November 24, 2013
Kota Kinabalu: Philippine security officials believe that a group of gunmen holding abducted Taiwanese tourist Chang An Wei are still holed up in one of the smaller islands around the southern Tawi Tawi province.Philippines National Police Sulu provincial chief Supt Abraham Orbita said inclement sea conditions were preventing the gunmen in bringing the 58-year-old Chang to Jolo island, the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf terror group.He said police officials had been on the lookout for Chang since her abduction from a chalet at the Pom Pom Island Resort, off Semporna in Sabah's east coast on Nov 15.ADVERTISEMENT "We have not received any report of their arrival in Jolo as yet. It is likely they are still at one of the smaller islands in Tawi Tawi."Philippines military Sulu Task Force commander Brig Gen Jose Joriel Cenabre had also said that the abductors were likely to be kidnap-for-ransom criminals who intended to turn over their victim to one of the several Abu Sayyaf groups based in Jolo.Taiwan's Defence Minister Yen Ming was quoted by Central News Agency as saying that Taiwan already had a unified plan to rescue Chang.ADVERTISEMENT He had said that Taiwan could not simply send troops to the Philippines for that purpose as the abduction was an international case.Meanwhile, Sabah police are still trying to determine the location of Chang and the Filipino gunmen who took her from Pom Pom Island resort off Semporna in Sabah to southern Philippines.
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State Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said police here were working with their Philippines and Taiwan counterparts to pin-point where Chang had been taken."We cannot reveal too much at the moment as her safety is paramount," he said on Saturday when asked if police had an idea of Chang's current location.Hamza said that police were still trying to identify the gunmen behind Chang's kidnapping and the shooting of the husband Hsu Li Min , 57, Nov 15 morning.Philippines National Police Sulu provincial chief Supt Abraham Orbita said on Friday that Chang was likely being kept by her abductors at one of the smaller islands within the Tawi Tawi province.Orbita said the currents were too strong for a safe sea crossing from Tawi Tawi to Jolo Island, where the gunmen were expected to handover Chang to one of the Abu Sayyaf groups there.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He said Philippines security forces had been on the lookout for Chang since her abduction on Nov 15.It is believed that middlemen representing the gunmen were looking at a ransom of RM10mil for her release.