SIPADAN, Malaysia (24 April 2000) -- On Sunday night, April 23, six heavily armed gunmen arrived in two boats at the renowned scuba diving resort of Sipadan Island, Malaysia and kidnapped 21 including at least 10 dive tourists. The hostages include three Germans, two French, two South Africans, two Finns, one Lebanese, nine Malaysians and a Filipino working at the Sipadan Island Resort. Other guests, including an American couple, James Murphy and his wife Mary from Rochester, New York, both 51, escaped before the captors ordered the hostages into two boats. The attack began when six masked gunmen, carrying AK-47s and a rocket launcher rounded up tourists and resort staff and confiscated their cash and jewelry. A local marine photographer, Danny Chin, said one of the attackers told him to turn over his watch and cell phone. "At first I thought he was joking ... but when I refused to obey his orders, he held a gun to my head." Chin later escaped into the forested interior of the island while the gunmen were ransacking the resort. | | The Abu Sayyaf is a Philippine Muslim extremist group linked to Al Qaeda. The gunmen then forced their hostages to swim to two fishing boats which sped away towards Philippine territorial waters. Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group linked to Al Qaeda, is believed to be responsible for the kidnappings. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
