Malaysian Marwan believed to mastermind latest bomb attacks in south Philippines

Filepix shows a fire following an alleged explosion from a homemade bomb at a main road of Cotabato City, southern Philippines on Aug 5, 2013.

Malaysian terror leader Zulkifli bin Hir, better known as Marwan, is suspected to be the mastermind behind a series of recent bomb attacks in Maguindanao region in southern Philippines.

With a US$5mil (RM15mil) bounty on his head, Marwan, who was once presumed killed in a military air strike in Jolo last year, is reported to be hiding out with a breakaway Moro rebel group which has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Marwan, a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah with direct links to global terror network of Al-Qadea and listed by FBI as one of the most wanted terrorist in the world, is believed to be together with another Indonesian JI operative.

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Philippine militants want RM558,000 for Malaysian’s freedom

An Abu Sayyaf rebel is seen in the Philippines in this video grab made available February 6, 2009.


A Philippine militant group believed responsible for the kidnapping of a Malaysian businessman are now demanding eight million pesos (RM558,000) for his safe release.

The Abu Sayyaf separatist group earlier claimed responsibility for the abduction of 38-year-old Mohd Nazaruddin Saidin, who was kidnapped last month while on a business trip to Jolo in the Phillippines.

The father of six was last seen in the Indanan area of the island, where Abu Sayyaf activity is notoriously high.

The militants were reported to have communicated their demands to the Malaysian embassy in Manila recently, and have increased their demands from their initial ransom of five million pesos.

It was unnerving moving from hideout to hideout, says freed hostage from Philipina Bandits.

Lai (left) and Tsen answering questions from the media at the Malaysian Embassy in Manila on Wednesday.

It was a tormenting experience for Malaysian seaweed farm manager Tsen Vui Chung, 42, and his cousin Lai Wing Chau, 33, who were held hostage by Filipino gunmen on Tawi-Tawi island in southern Philippines for 10 months.

“We run and run every day, day and night,” said Lai who was kidnapped at gunpoint together with Tsen from the seaweed platform in Pulau Sebangkat off Semporna in the east coast of Sabah on Feb 8.

“The kidnappers, sometimes numbering eight, other times 10, looked to a man named ‘Ahmad’ as their leader,” said Lai, who is a bachelor while Tsen is married with two children aged 11 and 15.

Talking about their 317-day ordeal, they told the Philippines media at the Malaysian Embassy in Manila after they were flown from Tawi-Tawi upon their release on Wednesday that they did not feel any real threat to their lives although it was quite unnerving moving from hideout to hideout at regular intervals.

Most of the gunmen spoke Tausug but a few of the abductors also spoke Malay, said Lai.

“They only gave us the name of their leader. Everybody calls him Ahmad. They did not disclose anything else,” Lai said.

He added that they just followed the bandits everywhere they went, without question. However, he said they could not recall seeing their abductors firing any shots nor did they see their guns.

“I don’t know where they put them (the guns),” said Lai, who went on to say that the kidnappers never assaulted them.

“They treated us very well,” he told the press conference in the presence of Malaysian Ambassador Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad.

“We always believed that we would be rescued, although at times I felt despair when I thought of my family,” said Lai, who lives with his parents and an elder sister in Sandakan.

Lai said that neither he nor Tsen heard their captors talking about any ransom or demands.

He also did not know if there were any negotiations that took place between the bandits and the government. He could not say for sure if the kidnappers were Filipinos but he believed they were not Malaysians.