Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) chief Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said there were no reports of any kidnappings in eastern Sabah and believed that such claims were merely to "provoke’’ security forces manning the east coast.
"There has been no reports of any kidnappings, I think they (crossborder kidnappers) are just trying to provoke us,’’ he said when contacted by phone, Sunday, over the report by a Philippines television network Interaksyon news portal TV5, claiming that the Frenchman was being kept hostage at one of the islands in Tawi Tawi province.
Tawi Tawi police chief Col Joey Salido said that there were no reports of any kidnapping whether locally or from across the border (Sabah). Tawi Tawi islands straddle close to Sabah's east coast.
"There is no information of any kidnapping,’’ he stressed when contacted, Sunday.
A report quoting Philippines intelligence sources by the online news portal claimed that a Frenchman from Sabah was "possibly’’ taken hostage.
The news portal claimed that an unnamed officer from Philipines military’s Camp Crame did not disclose when the French tourist was grabbed and did not want to disclose the identity of the hostage.
The report quoting the Philippines intelligence officer claimed that at the moment, the victim was being treated as a "guest", but once the Abu Sayyaf makes contact with French authorities, "that's the time they will issue their demands."
The report also claimed that the Malaysian authorities were aware of the abduction and they were in constant touch with them but had decided not to go public with the information.
Malaysia has tightened its security in the east coast and efforts were underway to secure the release of two Malaysians - fish breeder Chan Sai Chuin, 32 and marine police constable Kpl Zakiah Aleip, 26 - held by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Jolo.
Chan was snatched from his fish farm in Kunak on June 16 while Zakiah was grabbed from a police post in Mabul island on July 12.
Previous Report ---------------------------------------
Police source: ASG abducts Frenchman in Sabah
By: Thom Andrade, InterAksyon.com
November 15, 2014 2:34 PM
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
The Camp Crame-based officer, who has provided reliable information in the past, shared the information on condition that he not be identified. He did not say when the Frenchman, who was on vacation, was seized, and also declined to disclose the hostage's identity.
The source claimed that the kidnappers were apparently emboldened by the reported P250-million ransom paid in exchange for the release of Germans Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen, who were freed in Sulu in October.
At the moment, he said, the victim is being treated as a "guest" but, once the Abu Sayyaf makes contact with French authorities, "that's the time they will issue their demands."
He said Malaysian authorities know of the abduction "and we are in constant touch with them," but have decided not to go public with the information.
The source said the Abu Sayyaf band that seized the Frenchman is "the same group behind the abduction of the two European bird watchers" in Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi in February 2012.
The bird watchers -- Leo Vinciguerra of Switzerland and Dutchman Ewold Horns -- are still being held by the Abu Sayyaf with at least eight other hostages in Sulu.
On Friday, clashes broke out in Talipao, Sulu that left five Army Scout Rangers and nine Abu Sayyaf fighters dead.
At least 26 other soldiers and three gunmen were wounded in the fighting.
The Abu Sayyaf and other lawless groups are known to cross the maritime border between the southern Philippines and Malaysia to find victims to kidnap for ransom.
Among the more infamous of these incidents was the kidnapping of more than a dozen tourists from Sabah's Sipadan Island in 2001, many of whom were freed after ransom payoffs in the millions of pesos.
The Abu Sayyaf was also responsible for the abduction of 20 persons from the high-end Dos Palmas resort in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, among them Americans Guillermo Sobero and the missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and businessman Reghis Romero II.
Sobero was murdered while Martin Burnham died during a military rescue operation.
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