Abu Sayyaf threaten to execute 3 hostages
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2019 05:36:19 +0000
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Abu Sayyaf militants, whose group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, threatened to execute two Indonesian and a Malaysian hostages, being held captive in southern Philippines if ransom would not be paid, Malaysian media reported.
It said militants, who spoke in Bahasa Malaysia, released a video clip which showed the Indonesian hostages — Heri Ardiansyah, 19, and Hariadin, 45 — being guarded by gunmen. The Malaysian hostage, Jari Abdulla, 24, was not with the duo.
The captives, their eyes covered with black cloth and hands tied behind their back, made an emotional appeal for their government to save them. One militant even held a bolo on the neck of Hariadin as he spoke to the camera in forested area.
The video, reports said, surfaced several days after Abu Sayyaf gunmen phoned Jari’s wife, Nadin Junianti, saying that no Malaysian authorities or negotiators have contacted them to secure her husband’s release.
The gunmen said that her husband would face difficulties if there was no contact from Malaysia. They also asked her for telephone contacts of Malaysian journalists. Nadin appealed to Malaysian authorities to help secure her husband’s release. She said it was the second time the kidnap group had contacted her.
Malaysian media did not say how much ransom the Abu Sayyaf was demanding for the safe release of the hostages. The militants are believed to be holding nearly a dozen captives, mostly foreigners. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said authorities were working with their Philippine counterparts to secure the release of the hostages who were kidnapped at sea off Sandakan in Sabah on December 5, 2018. AL JACINTO
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