No ransom paid to Abu Sayyaf?

KUALA LUMPUR - No ransom was paid to secure the release of the four Sarawakians kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf off Pulau Ligitan on April 1.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the four were released and brought back by a Police Special Forces team in the wee hours of Wednesday.

"From the pictures I have seen, the four of them look to be in good health.

"They are in Sandakan now and would be taken Kota Kinabalu today," he told reporters after attending the Police Cooperatives Berhad annual general Meeting on Thursday.

Brothers Wong Teck Kang, 31, and Wong Teck Chii, 29, their cousin, Johnny Lau Jung Hien,21 and Wong Hung Sing, 34, were released by Abu Sayyaf late Tuesday.

They were seized from their tugboat which was on its way to Sarawak from the Philippines.