Malaysian authorities search for gunmen, hostages following weekend attack

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Four heavily armed gunmen kidnapped three Malaysians from a resort island off Borneo and fled in a speedboat toward the southern Philippines, Malaysia's deputy prime minister said Monday.

The attack occurred Sunday night near another Malaysian resort island where Abu Sayyaf separatist rebels from the Philippines had kidnapped 21 people, including international tourists, four months ago and took them to Jolo island in the southern Philippines. Nearly all those hostages have since been freed, but authorities had feared that the Abu Sayyaf rebels, who received millions of dollars from hostage negotiators, might return to Malaysian waters to kidnap again.

On Monday, Malaysian helicopters and naval vessels searched the waters surrounding northeastern Borneo for the armed men who had stormed remote Pandanan island, Sulaiman Junaidi, police chief in nearby Semporna town, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

During the attack at Pasir Dive Resort at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday (1130 GMT), the four men armed with M-16 rifles took the staff by surprise and fired two shots in the air. They then robbed the resort and fled in their speed boat. For hours, Malaysian authorities searched nearby jungles to see if the three missing Malaysians had fled and were hiding.

But on Monday afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, that police had confirmed the gunmen had taken the three Malaysians hostage. He said that authorities believed the hostage-takers might be from another country, as they spoke a variation of the Malay language common to residents of the southern Philippines.

Although Malaysian authorities had pledged repeatedly to beef up security in the area since the 21 people were kidnapped by the Philippines' Abu Sayyaf rebels on Sipadan island, marine officials also had warned that intruders who were familiar with the area could easily get away.

In fact, Sabah state police deputy commissioner Mazlan Tyan said on Monday that the hostage-takers' modus operandi on Pandanan island seemed similar to the attack on Sipadan.

He said the four gunmen -- who wore track suits -- stole a television set, mobile phone, chain saw and video tape recorder from the resort before escaping in a blue speedboat.

The national Bernama news agency identified two of the three missing Malaysians as resort manager Mohamad Noh Sulaiman, 40, and scuba diving master Joe Joseph Domino, also 40.

Police were questioning 11 resort workers who apparently witnessed the attack, said investigating officer Nazi Hissing.

The three hostages were an ethnic Chinese, an ethnic Indian and an indigenous Adamant, a spokesman for the Semporna Ocean Center told the AP.

The spokesman, who identified himself as Gain, said that Pandanan was only about half an hour from the nearest Philippine island by speedboat. Sipadan is an hour away, he said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Titan Chuan, vice president of Malaysia's opposition National Justice Party, said the attack in Pandanan was "a shabby reflection of Malaysia's commitment to national security." He said, "Malaysia has only itself to blame for this latest event, even if the attackers turn out to be from the Philippines."

Relations between Kuala Lumpur and Manila have been strained since the Abu Sayyaf rebels captured the tourists in Sipadan in April.

Pandanan is a relatively little known island that is less than one kilometer long, and is ringed with sandy beaches and offshore corals.

For years, Pandanan and nearby islands also have been on the front lines of Malaysia's war against piracy in some of the most dangerous waters in the world. Police usually post sentries on these tiny resort islands and regularly deploy forces to patrol their waters.

As a country, Malaysia is divided into two regions: the Malay Peninsula just south of Thailand, and the northern portion of Borneo island.

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