AFP: Malaysian trader abducted in Sulu

Unidentified gunmen seized a Malaysian trader in the southern Philippine province of Sulu Saturday midnight, a regional military spokesman said Monday. Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command identified the victim as a certain Mohammad Nasaruddin Bensaidin, 38, who was abducted at Sitio Butan in Kajatian village in Indanan town. Cabangbang described the victim as a resident of Kuala Lumpur who has been in Sulu for 10 days and is engaged in the lizard trading business. "[The victim] seldom roam around the town," he said. No other details were available, including the possible suspects in the latest abduction in the strife-torn southern Philippines. A number of armed groups proliferate in Sulu, including the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which authorities blame for a series of bombings and abductions in Mindanao and Metro Manila. — RSJ, GMA News