Abu Sayyaf militants free Malaysian hostage

MANILA, Philippines — Abu Sayyaf militants have freed a Malaysian restaurant manager after six months of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, but her compatriot remains in their custody in the latest cross-border kidnappings to alarm Malaysia, officials said Monday.

The militants released Thien Nyuk Fun late Sunday in a hinterland village in Indanan town in Sulu province. She was then brought by Malaysian security escorts by boat to neighboring Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island, according to two Filipino security officers who help monitor Muslim militants.

The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters, said another Malaysian, Bernard Then Ted Fen, remains in the hands of the militants led by Alhabsy Misaya in predominantly Muslim Sulu, an impoverished region 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila.

They said a huge ransom was paid for Thien's freedom, but Malaysian police officials denied money had changed hands.

The two Malaysians were taken at gunpoint in a restaurant in Sandakan city in Sabah in May despite a considerably stronger security enforced by Malaysia following a series of abductions by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sabah.

Armed by assault rifles and traveling on powerful speedboats, the militants have crossed the sea border to carry out kidnappings in Malaysia at least six times in the last two years, including the latest one. In their most brazen raid, the militants kidnapped 21 mostly European tourists and Asian workers from Malaysia's Sipadan dive resort and took their hostages to Sulu to be ransomed off.

In Sabah's capital city of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said without elaborating that Thien was released following months of negotiations. He thanked all those who worked to secure the 50-year-old seafood restaurant manager, according to the Malaysian news agency Bernama.

"I urge the relevant authorities to remain vigilant at all times and keep our borders secure from further intrusion," Bernama quoted him as saying.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said Thien "is healthy but weak and tired due to the long journey and also from the emotional aspect." Efforts were underway to rescue the other Malaysian, Bernama quoted Jalaluddin as saying.

The United States and the Philippines have separately blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for kidnappings, beheadings, extortion and bomb attacks. The al-Qaida-linked militants have been weakened but have survived more than a decade of U.S.-backed offensives.

The Abu Sayyaf has been suspected of carrying out the kidnappings of two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina from a marina in the south in September. Militants who identified themselves as belonging to the Abu Sayyaf in an online video have demanded more than $60 million for the freedom of the three foreigners.