Ransom believed paid for release of kidnapped Taiwanese tourist

Monday 23 December 2013

A Taiwanese tourist whose husband was killed by gunmen in a kidnapping at an island resort off Sabah returned to Taiwan today after she was rescued in the southern Philippines.

Television footage showed Chang An-wei, 59, dressed in a loose T-shirt and wearing sunglasses, walking to a minibus parked at an airport near Taipei after she arrived in the early afternoon, waving briefly to the media and giving a thumbs-up sign.

Taiwanese media said Chang's family allegedly paid the kidnappers around US$300,000 (RM986,000) in ransom to secure her release.

Chang was found by Philippine marines at a village near Talipao, a town on the remote Philippine island of Jolo where Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants are known to operate, and was taken to a local military hospital for a medical check-up yesterday.

"I think I just want to say I deeply appreciate the Philippine military for giving me such a big help and assistance to rescue me. Thank you very much," Chang said in English in a pre-recorded message aired by several Taiwanese news channels today.

Chang and her husband Hsu Li-min were holidaying on Pom Pom island in Sabah, which is near the Sulu island group that includes Jolo, when gunmen attacked on November 15, kidnapping her and killing her husband, according to Taiwanese officials and media.

Foreign ministry officials in Taiwan said that Hsu's body was cremated in Malaysia and that his family brought back his ashes to Taiwan last month.

Philippine authorities said the identities of Chang's kidnappers were unknown, though Abu Sayyaf gunmen who are known to carry out kidnappings operate in the area.

A Jordanian television reporter, Bakr Atyani, walked free from a Jolo jungle earlier this month, 18 months after he was abducted by the Islamist militants. The Abu Sayyaf is a small Islamist movement that has been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks and kidnappings of foreigners in the Philippines.

US Special Forces have been rotating through Jolo and other parts of the southern Philippines for more than a decade to train local troops battling the group, which is on Washington's list of "foreign terrorist organisations".

Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed still to hold a number of foreign as well as Filipino hostages on Jolo, including two European birdwatchers and a Japanese treasure hunter, according to Philippine officials. - AFP

Semporna kidnap: Taiwanese victim relates

TAIPEI - Chang An Wei who had been released by her captors in southern Philippines arrived home at 1.16pm on Saturday after over 35 days in captivity.

The 58-year-old Taiwanese was wearing a smile and looking joyful as she waved at the awaiting press at the airport.

She entered a special shuttle van and left the airport with officials from the Taiwanese foreign affairs ministry.

Inside the van, she even gave a thumbs up to the pressmen.

It was learnt that she was accompanied by her elder brother Chang Da Gong on her way back from Manila.

Chang An Wei's sister and mother were at the airport to receive her.

The Taiwanese police will hold a press conference at 3pm today detailing the rescue of Chang An Wei.

More ......

Kidnapped Taiwanese Released in Philippines relates....

A Taiwanese tourist who was kidnapped more than a month ago in Malaysia has been released in the southern Philippines, a Filipino military commander said Saturday.

Evelyn Chang was vacationing with her husband when kidnappers attacked them on Nov. 15 at the secluded island resort of Pom Pom in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. They killed her husband and took her to the nearby Philippine island of Jolo, according to officials in both countries.

Philippine police and marines found Chang late Friday in a remote village outside Jolo's Talipao township after they were tipped off by concerned citizens, said Sulu provincial commander Col. Jose Cenabre.

Cenabre said that Chang ended up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu after she was handed over by another group that carried out the raid on the Malaysian island. The Abu Sayyaf is notorious for ransom kidnapping and terrorist attacks. Cenabre was unaware if ransom was paid for Chang's release.

"We were able to recover her safely," he said. "Physically she was alright."

He said that Chang broke down in tears as she recounted her ordeal. She told Filipino authorities she did not see her husband being shot but heard gunfire as she was being dragged away by kidnappers who wore ski masks, Cenabre said.

In 2000, Abu Sayyaf gunmen crossed the porous maritime border with Malaysia in speedboats and snatched 21 European tourists and Malaysian and Filipino workers from Malaysia's Sipadan diving resort and brought them to jungle strongholds in the southern Philippines, where the captives were later released in exchange for ransom.

Early this month, Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani was freed by the Abu Sayyaf after more than a year in jungle captivity. He was lured him into one of their camps with a promise of an interview.

The militants are still holding more than a dozen captives, including two European bird watchers who were kidnapped last year in Tawi-Tawi province farther south of Sulu.

AP

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