Execution of Sabah captives a hoax?

DAVAO CITY — Authorities continue to search in vain for five men snatched from a resort in Sabah who were reportedly killed by Abu Sayyaf rebels in a Tawi-Tawi village, as claimed by another hostage who said he managed to flee the massacre.

With no traces of the five hostages, authorities are raising doubts about the claim of Nonoy Arcosel, who said he was able to run away when the Abu Sayyaf men, led by Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot, fired at them in the coastal village of Buan.

Johannes Manginsela, Indonesian vice consul based here, said he went to Zamboanga City last week to coordinate with the military and police authorities there.

"We wanted to check if the victims were, indeed, Indonesians as reported. We waited for the remains to arrive in Zamboanga but until yesterday (Saturday), there were no remains and we had to come back to Davao," he said.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Malaysian defense minister, was quoted by the Malaysian news agency Bernama, as saying that the hostages could still be alive since no bodies have been found.

According to earlier reports, at least 10 armed men stormed the Borneo Paradise Resort in Sabah last Oct. 6 and seized three Indonesian and three Filipino workers there.

However, Manginsela said no relatives of the Indonesian hostages have come forward at the Indonesian consulates here or in Kota Kinabalu.

Earlier, Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, chief of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, expressed doubts about Arcosel’s claim.

"Our investigators are already doubting the claim of Arcosel. Besides, it was Arcosel who presented himself to the authorities. He was not rescued as he said," Kyamko said. — With Marvin Sy