1 of 2 abducted workers freed in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Kidnappers have freed one of two Filipino construction workers in the southern province of Sulu where security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf bandits, officials said Thursday. On February gunmen seized two people who are both working on a US-funded road project in the town of Maimbung, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group blamed for previous kidnappings-for-ransom in the province. Marine Lieutenant General Benjamin Dolorfino, a regional military chief, said one hostage was freed in Sulu. "One of the two victims was released on Wednesday. There is an ongoing operation to rescue the remaining captive," he said without elaborating. A military report identified the released victim as Jalal Ali. On Tuesday, the military identified the two victims as Raja Harun and Jalal Alih. [See: 2 workers abducted in Sulu] Meanwhile, authorities on Wednesday said they were trying to verify reports that two Malaysians abducted from a seaweed farm in Sabah had been taken either to Tawi-Tawi or Sulu provinces. [See: Govt checking reports traders seized in Malaysia brought to RP] Malaysian authorities said that Chen Yui Chung, 48, and Lai Wong Chung, 46, were seized by five masked gunmen on Monday from the island of Sebangkat, off the town of Semporma, and were believed taken to Tawi-Tawi or Sulu province, where Abu Sayyaf bandits are operating. In April 2000, Abu Sayyaf bandits kidnapped 21 mostly European and Asian holiday vacationers in Sabah and brought them to Sulu where they had been ransomed off to Libyan negotiators. The hostages include three Germans, two French, two South Africans, and two Finns, one Lebanese, nine Malaysians and a Filipino working at the Sipadan Island Resort. The latest victims – the two Malasian-Chinese traders – were said to be a manager and his supervisor from a seaweed farm in Malaysia. The abductions came days after the United States warned their citizens from traveling to Sabah because of threats of kidnappings. No group claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, although suspicion fell heavily on Abu Sayyaf bandits whose group is tied to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya international terrorist networks. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV