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Gunmen
seize divers in Sipadan
by
Malcolm Hey
Reproduced
from in focus 68 (June
2002)
Sipadan,
a regular dive destination for many British divers, was invaded
by heavily armed masked gunmen on 23 April - Easter Sunday.
21 people, including European divers, were taken hostage at
gunpoint (and taken by their captors to the Sulu islands in
the southern Philippines).
Six
Filipino gunmen armed with rocket launchers and automatic
weapons come ashore just after nightfall. They initially ambushed
a police post and took the one police guard on duty. They
then proceeded to the Wildlife Department office and Pulau-Sipadan
dive centre taking another 20 people captive. An American
couple on their first visit to Sipadan managed to escape in
the dark and ran into the forest at the back of the dive centres.
The abduction happened in less than one hour with the gunmen
ambushing the police post just after sundown and fleeing the
island on two speedboats towards the Philippines just 45 minutes
later. No shooting took place and the gunmen snatched money
and valuables from the hostages before herding them onto the
boots. Half those abducted were visiting dive-tourists - two
French, three German, two Finns, two South African and a Lebanese.
Others included Wildlif e Rangers and staff from dive centres.
The
invading group is known to belong to the Abu Sayyof, a Muslim
separatist group based in the Sulu Archipelago 600 miles south
of Manila where they are holding their captives hostage on
the island of Jolo. The Abu Sayyaf is one of several Filipino
guerrilla organisations operating in the south of the country
that have been warring for almost 30 years for an Islamic
state, independent of the mainly Catholic Philippines. Hostage-taking
is the latest in a resurgence of violence that has included
a grenade attack on a church service and a kill-and-burn attack
on a Christian town. Previous activities have been limited
to the southern Filipino islands. This is the first time the
group has targeted the normally peaceful Malaysion islands
and is the first and only terrorist incident to cif fect tourists
in Malaysia's history. It come as a complete shock both to
the tourist industry and the Malaysion authorities.
The
initial demands by the guerrillas included a $2.4m ransom
and the release of Muslims imprisoned in the USA for their
masterminding of, and involvement in, the 1993 bombing of
the World Trade Centre. The Abu Sayyaf was already holding
29 other hostages, mostly children, on Basilan Island not
far from the Sulu Island group. There, two Filipino hostages
have been beheaded by their captors. Government forces mounted
an assault on the Basilan camp of the Abu Sayyaf the day before
the Sipaclan abductions. Dozens of soldiers' and rebels' lives
were lost but the hostages reinained captive. It is thought
that the Sipadan raid may have been a reaction to the assault
on the Basilan camp. During a later military assault thirteen
children and two adults were rescued from the Basilan camp
but four of the hostages were killed during the operation
to free them.
On
Jolo where the Sipadan hostages are being held government
forces used artillery on the camp where the hostages were
in captivity and there was a period of tension during which
the captors threatened to behead some of their hostages. Many
of the hostages are suffering from diarrhoea and urinary tract
infections. Medical supplies have been admitted into the camp
and journalists have access to the hostages. The guerrillas
have broken through the military cordon and moved their hostages
to a different camp. Government negotiators are in talks with
the rebels who are now demanding a £2m ransom for the
release of a 57-year-old German woman suffering from high
blood pressure and who has become weak and very ill. The Government's
negotiator has warned there could be months of tough bargaining
ahead.
Meanwhile
back in Sipadan, all civilians were evacuated to nearby Mabul
island and Malaysian government security forces brought in
to tighten security in the coastal regions. Security forces
are now stationed on all resort islands in Sabah state, including
Sipadan and Mabul. Within days of the abductions business
was back to normal at the dive centres and new visitors were
arriving to start their holiday on this normally peaceful
island.
Reproduced
from in focus 68 (June
2002)
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