Any ransom was not from us: Indo consulate
Published on: Friday, February 01, 2019
KOTA KINABALU: An Indonesian official in Sabah said his government had no knowledge of ransom supposedly paid to the Abu Sayyaf for the release of an Indonesian fisherman and later reportedly used to fund last Sunday’s cathedral bombing in the southern Philippine province of Sulu which killed 21 people.
Indonesian fishermen Samsul Saguni and Usman Yusof were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf from their fishing boat near Pulau Gaya off Semporna on Sept 11 last year and taken to Sulu.
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Usman escaped on Dec 6, last year, while Samsul was released on Jan 5 this year or rescued by the Philippine authorities according to some other officials and news reports. Jakarta denied Samsul was released after ransom had been paid.
An online report on Tuesday quoted some sources as saying that ransom had been paid by the Malaysian boat owner which was later used to fund the twin bombing of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel which also injured over 100 people.
The Philippine authorities believe the Abu Sayyaf is responsible for the bombing on Jolo island, which was also claimed by the Islamic State terror group.
“As far as I know, the Indonesian government has no knowledge of any ransom paid to the kidnappers for the release of Samsul,” Indonesian Consul-General in Sabah Krishna Djelani told Daily Express.
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“The Indonesian government also did not pay any ransom and did not even communicate or negotiate with the kidnappers for his release.”
The online report quoted a former Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) member based in Sabah as saying that the supposedly paid ransom money had reached the Jolo church bombers.
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“This attack was on their calendar. This is done by the pro-Islamic State faction of ASG [Abu Sayyaf group] and they have been planning it for quite some time,” Abdullah Sandakan, the former JI member, was quoted as saying.
“They were just waiting for the ransom money, which they used for the bombing. Twelve days is more than enough time for them to source and buy the explosives, prepare their people to carry out the bombing.
“The money is given to the villagers for sheltering them [militants] and also to win them over.”
The al-Qaeda-affiliated JI was blamed for Indonesia’s deadliest terrorist attack, the Bali bombings that killed 202 people in 2002.
The report also quoted an unnamed Mindanao-based source as saying the ransom money had funded the bombing.
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