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TERRORIST ATTACK ON POM POM ISLAND, SABAH
Two Black Eyes, one for The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) and one for Tourism Ministry’s VMY 2014
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THE ATTACK, KILLING AND KIDNAP HAPPENED ABOUT 1 KM FROM A GENERAL OPERATIONS FORCE BASE!
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TAIWAN IS ANGRY with what Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said!
Free Malaysia Today
Taiwan fumes over Hisham’s callous remark
The casual remark made by Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the kidnap of a tourist in Pom Pom Island has angered the Taiwanese who have demanded an apology.
KUALA LUMPUR: Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s casual remark on the murder of a tourist and kidnap of his wife in Pom Pom Island, off Sabah, has sparked anger in Taiwan, leading to calls for an apology.
Media reports in Taiwan and Malaysia have centred on Hishammuddin’s casual dismissal of the case when he said: “Kidnappings occur everywhere.”
The statement sparked anger in Taiwan leading to calls for an apology over the remark.
Hishammuddin said he did not see a need to apologise over the armed abduction of the Taiwanese tourist said to be by Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
When asked about the issue on Monday, Hishammuddin said there was “nothing to apologise for,” the Sin Chew Daily reported.
The minister also rejected criticism that the incident happened because of weak enforcement on the part of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom).
Taiwan fumes over Hisham’s callous remark
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Malaysia Chronicle
Wednesday, 20 November 2013 09:31
As Pom Pom kidnap victim enters 6TH DAY in captivity, Sabah tourist cancellations POUR IN
Written by Malaysia Chronicle
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Malaysia Chronicle
Wednesday, 20 November 2013 10:44
Family of Taiwanese killed in Pom Pom kidnap gather at hospital to collect his body Written by Malaysia Chronicle
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NST
Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the Taiwanese couple were not husband and wife, as previously reported in the local and Taiwanese media.
He said, the couple had been living together.
“We received our information and confirmation from the other side (Taiwanese government). We are working closely with Taiwanese officials. They are here with us in Semporna.”
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NST
19 November 2013| last updated at 12:22AM
Did Pom Pom gunmen have inside help?
KOTA KINABALU: Police are looking at the possibility that the gunmen who shot dead a foreign tourist and kidnapped his partner on Pulau Pom Pom had inside help.
A joint force operation would be carried out to track those assisting the gunmen or protecting them soon, said Federal Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Salleh Mat Rashid.
“No arrests have been made yet but I believe this operation will shed light on the case,” he said at the state police headquarters in Kepayan yesterday.
Did Pom Pom gunmen have inside help?
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Malaysiakini
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Media practitioners have been instructed by inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar not to reveal too much about the kidnap of the Taiwanese woman in Sabah as this “may endanger her safety”.
Singling out the report in The Star today, Khalid said the media should be ethical in its reports and be concerned about the safety of the victim, whose husband was killed by terrorists in holiday resort of Pulau Pom Pom and she was taken away.
“We understand the importance of you all in carrying news, but you must also understand that the life of the victim is at stake.
“So, please write ethically so that it does not endanger her safety, as such details will profit the terrorists. Her safety is of utmost important now and the police is working with everybody,” Khalid said.
He said the Malaysian police were working closely with the Philippine authorities to ensure the safety of the Taiwanese kidnap victim, who is said to be in the hands of Philippine terrorists.
Khalid also refused to identify the terrorists as part of the Abu Sayyaf group, as has been widely reported, preferring in referring to them “Philippine terrorists”.
Don’t reveal too much about Sabah kidnap, says IGP
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Star
Monday November 18, 2013 MYT 9:03:08 AM
Semporna kidnap: Taiwanese lawmaker seeks meeting with Najib
SEMPORNA: A Taiwanese national lawmaker is expected to join a team comprising other officials to discuss the abduction case with Malaysian authorities.
Tsai Cheng-yuan is expected to join officials of the Taiwan representative’s office in Kuala Lumpur and a criminal investigations bureau team.
Tsai said he was making arrangements to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over the safety of the abducted Chang An Wei.
“Our prime objective is to ensure the safety of the victim,” Taiwan’s United Daily News quoted him as saying yesterday.
Semporna kidnap: Taiwanese lawmaker seeks meeting with Najib
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Star
Monday November 18, 2013 MYT 8:06:52 AM
Semporna kidnap: Victim has high-level links
KUALA LUMPUR: Taiwanese tourist Chang An Wei, who was snatched from an island resort off Sabah, could have been the sole target of her abductors.
The kidnappers might have seen the 58-year-old as a high-profile target because of her link to Christine Chow Mei-ching, wife of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou. They were schoolmates.
She could also have been a target because she and her husband were wealthy, having gone into semi-retirement after selling off their garment factory to travel around the world.
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The gunmen who grabbed Chang and killed her husband in the incident on Friday are believed to have links with the Abu Sayyaf – a band of terrorists with a reputation for financing themselves through kidnappings.
The speculation is that if they had known about Chang’s connection to Chow or her wealth, the abductors might have seen an opportunity to get a larger ransom for her release.
Semporna kidnap: Victim has high-level links
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Malaysiakini
The recent kidnap and murder of Taiwanese tourists in the Pom Pom Islands off Sampoerna is proof that the government’s Eastern Sabah Security Command Zone (Esscom) initiative has failed, said DAP.
In a statement yesterday, Sabah DAP chairperson Jimmy Wong said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and Defence Minister Hishamuddin Hussein should all explain why such a tragedy has taken place even though Esscom has been in place since early this year.
Wong, who is also the Kota Kinabalu MP, said Esscom has cost the government RM2 billion in terms of improving military facilities, RM1 million to upgrade nine watch posts in the Sabah east coast, and also another RM75 million in allocation in the 2014 budget.
“This tragic incident has proven that all these allocations were not effective in enhancing the border protection at the east coast of Sabah,” he said.
Wong added the incident has affected the country’s international image and thus the government must now ensure the safety of the remaining hostage..
“Also, 2014 will be a Visit Malaysia year, and as Sampoerna is one of the best tourist spots in the country, the tourism industry could be affected,” he said.
Billion-ringgit Esscom couldn’t prevent kidnapping?
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Malaysia Chronicle
Sunday, 17 November 2013 10:00
Taiwan, int’l print & social media abuzz with Pom Pom kidnap: M’SIA NOTORIETY SPREADS
Written by Malaysia Chronicle
KUALA LUMPUR – It is ironic that as Prime Minister Najib Razak held forth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, a destination avoided by many global tourists because of its violence and active terror networks, his own country was falling into the same pit of notoriety.
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“The Pom Pom island killing and kidnap of the tourists is a major blow to efforts to restore tourist and public confidence in the security of Sabah after the intrusion of the Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datuk in February,” Opposition Member of Parliament Lim Kit Siang said in an immediate response to the incident which has shocked Malaysia.
Kit Siang is demanding that the 60-year-old Najib addresses the issue at Parliament on Monday. “Najib should tell Parliament what actions would be taken by the Eastern Sabah Security Command to tighten security to ensure that such killing and kidnap by Filipino terrorists would not be allowed to recur in Sabah.”
Pom-Pom Island in Malaysia where a Chinese tourist was murdered and his wife kidnapped early Friday morning
In Taiwan, the home country of the two Pom Pom victims, the feelings of outrage are understandably much higher.
Meanwhile, Malaysian police have blamed terror group Abu Sayyaf for the kidnap-murder.
According to the Malaysian Insider, police sources familiar with the activities of the Abu Sayyaf group said that the terrorists would normally use an intermediary to make their ransom demand.
Malaysia Chronicle
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Star
November 17, 2013 MYT 7:14:41 AM
Semporna kidnap: Victims’ mothers still do not know of killing and abduction
Hsu’s brother Li Ren appealing to the authorities through the media to rescue his sister-in-law. — NORMIMIE DIUN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: The 80-year-old bedridden mother of slain Taiwanese tourist Hsu Li Min does not know about her son’s tragic death yet.
Neither does the 92-year-old mother of his abducted wife, Chang An Wei.
Hsu’s brother Li Ren said he did not know how to break the news to their mother.
Chang’s brother Da Gong, said the family feared that she would not be able to handle the bad news.
According to a Taiwanese cable TV news report, Li Ren planned to fly to Kota Kinabalu, by Tuesday to make arrangements for Hsu’s last rites. The body is at the Tawau Hospital mortuary.
Li Ren said he could not accept that the Malaysian authorities were insisting on carrying out a post-mortem on his brother, adding that he hoped the Taiwanese government would intervene and stop it.
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Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an “orange” travel alert, its second highest level, for the eastern coast of Sabah.
It urged Taiwanese to avoid travelling to the area unless necessary.
Under the MOFA’s four-colour-coded travel advisory system, “red’ is the highest level, followed by “orange”, “yellow’ and “grey”.
Semporna kidnap: Victims’ mothers still do not know of killing and abduction
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Star
Gunmen island-hopping with abductee
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Malaysia Chronicle
Saturday, 16 November 2013 20:30
Taiwan warns citizens NOT to travel to Sabah
KOTA KINABALU – Taiwan Foreign Affairs Ministry (MOFA) has issued a travel advisory, warning its citizens to avoid travelling to Sabah.
According to The China Post, MOFA issued an ‘orange warning’, on Friday, which is the second-highest on Taiwan’s four-color tourism advisory system, to Sabah.
The warning came immediately after the shooting incident that killed a Taiwanese tourists on Pom Pom Island off Semporna.
It advises Taiwanese nationals to avoid going to the destination and to be on high alert if they have to go.
Sabah travels and tours operators, however, said they have not received official notice from the government to warn operators from booking a reservation to the island and reported that business continued as usu
Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=188262:taiwan-warns-citizens-not-to-travel-to-sabah&Itemid=2#ixzz2koYU3mAe
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Semporna kidnap: Taiwan issues travel alert on eastern Sabah
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Free Malaysia Today
Spectre of danger resurfaces in Sabah
The kidnapping, barely a kilometre from the General Operations Force base has left officials embarrased and ESSCOM blaming the lack of fast patrol boats for the slow response by security forces.
SEMPORNA: The impunity with which gunmen sailed into Sabah’s supposedly tightly guarded Semporna waters, kidnapped a 58-year-old Taiwanese tourist from a resort and killed her husband has exposed the lie that the state’s east coast is safe.
Inspector-General of Police IGP Khalid Abu Bakar would only confirm the incident and that his men are investigating.
While there is an air of business-as-usual among the security folk in Sabah, there is a glow of red faces reaching up to the highest circles.
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The crime took place just a kilometre away from a General Operations Force base and perhaps gave the resort management a false sense of security.
The resort is about 30-minutes speedboat ride away from international waters bordering the Tawi Tawi chain of islands in the Philippines and about 45-minutes away from Semporna town.
It is well known that there are several armed groups, both criminal and militant, in the southern Philippines who are known to change roles according to their needs making it difficult to identify them.
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ESSCOM lacks fast boats
At a press conference in Lahad Datu, Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) director general Mohammad Mentek said no ransom demands have been made yet.
He blamed the lack of fast patrol boats at the General Operations Force bases as among the reasons for the lack of a rapid response by security forces.
Mentek also said providing security cover for all areas in Semporna which has over 40 islands so close to the other side of the border was “not easy”.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/11/15/spectre-of-danger-resurfaces-in-sabah/
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Star
Saturday November 16, 2013 MYT 12:54:00 PM
Semporna kidnap: Business as usual at Pom Pom resort
SEMPORNA: It is a business as usual for the high-end Pom Pom Island Resort where a Taiwanese tourist was shot dead and his wife kidnapped by Filipino gunmen.
On Saturday morning, foreign tourists including Taiwanese were seen arriving at this east coast town after landing at Tawau airport.
More than a dozen were seen boarding the resort’s tour coach and appeared unaware of the shooting and kidnapping incident at about 1am on Friday.
However, tour agents associated with the resort shrugged off the gunmen’s raid on the island.
thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/11/16/Semporna-Business-As-Usual.aspx …
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NST
16 November 2013| last updated at 09:44AM
Pom Pom island case related to Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group
KUALA LUMPUR: Police believed the murder-cum-kidnapping case on Pom Pom island is related to Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said they believe the suspects kidnapped the tourist for ransom.
He said police has urged the Malaysian Armed Forces to tighten up the security at the Sabah sea border.
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The Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) covers 1,400km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau.
It was established in March this year by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak following the Lahad Datu incursion by armed Sulu militants a month earlier.
Its purpose is to strengthen maritime security in the eastern part of Sabah and to prevent terrorist activity in the waters off Sabah.
The Esscom headquarters and main bases are in Lahad Datu.
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Focus Taiwan News Channel
Taiwanese man shot dead, wife abducted on Malaysian island
Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) A Taiwanese man has been shot dead and his wife abducted on a resort island off the coast of the East Malaysian state of Sabah, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
Taiwan’s representative office in Malaysia has been informed of the situation by local police and has sent officials to Sabah to help deal with the case, the ministry said.
According to a report by the English-language Malaysian daily The Star, 57-year-old Lim Min Hsu was found dead with two bullet wounds in his chest early Friday at a resort on Pom Pom Island following an attack by a group of Filipino gunmen.
The victim’s wife, identified as 58-year-old An Wei Chang, was abducted, the report said.
Taiwanese man shot dead, wife abducted on Malaysian island
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Star
Friday November 15, 2013 MYT 10:56:23 PM
Semporna kidnap: Gunmen ransack water villas, shoot Taiwanese and flee with wife
Villas at the Pom Pom Island Resort and Spa
This was where the attack and kidnap happened.
Semporna kidnap: Gunmen ransack water villas, shoot Taiwanese and flee with
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Malaysian Insider
Esscom chief defends against allegations of lax security along Sabah coastline
BY LEE SHI-IAN
November 15, 2013
The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) has defended itself from allegations that their security was lax, saying although it has taken measures to secure the coastal waters off Sabah, intrusions can still take place due to the long coastline and vast number of islands.
Esscom director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek (pic) told The Malaysian Insider that the authorities had taken the necessary measures to safeguard Sabah’s eastern coastline but incidents can still happen, referring to the attack by a group of gunmen on the island of Pom Pom early this morning, which left one Chinese tourist dead and another missing.
“It was a criminal act and not an incursion like the Lahad Datu incident. The police are investigating the case and we will leave it to them to ascertain what actually occurred,” said Mohammad Mentek.
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NST
5 November 2013| last updated at 06:56PM
Kidnapped tourist may be in the Philippines: Police
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Malaysian Insider
Where is security command in Eastern Sabah? Barisan MP demands answers after tourist killing
By LEE SHI-IAN
November 15, 2013
The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) came under attack by a furious Barisan Nasional lawmaker after gunmen stormed a holiday resort on Pom Pom island early today and killed a tourist from China before abducting his wife.
Kalabakan MP Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (pic) flayed Esscom which was set up several months ago by Putrajaya to stop incursions by foreign terrorists into Sabah.
“This is very disappointing because it shows that Esscom is not functioning properly,” Abdul Ghapur told The Malaysian Insider.
“If these attacks are happening again, it will discourage tourists from visiting Semporna and Sipadan. This will cause Sabah to lose its tourism revenue.
“I want Esscom director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek to give a full explanation to us on why this incident happened,” he added.
Where is security command in Eastern Sabah? Barisan MP demands answers after tourist killing
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Malaysia Chronicle
Friday, 15 November 2013 17:35
TERROR ON POM POM ISLAND: Even Sabah Umno leader SLAMS Najib’s INEFFECTIVE Esscom
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Malaysian Insider
Chinese tourist shot dead on Sabah island by Abu Sayyaf terrorists, wife abducted
A businessman from China was shot dead by suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists and his wife abducted at the Leonardo restaurant on Pom Pom island off Semporna early this morning.
Initial reports indicated a group of heavily armed men arrived at the Mandur Pom Pom island resort around 1am.
The gunmen stormed into the restaurant, where the Chinese couple were the only customers, and fired several shots.
The victim, Lim Min Hsu, 57, was shot twice in the chest and ribs. He died at the scene.
His 56-year-old wife An Wei Chang was taken away by the gunmen.
The gunmen, who authorities suspect are Abu Sayyaf terrorists, fled in a pump boat towards southern Philippines.
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Star
Friday November 15, 2013 MYT 3:17:56 PM
Semporna kidnap: Massive hunt for missing Taiwanese woman and gunmen
KOTA KINABALU: Security is on high alert as a massive sea and air hunt was launched for Filipino gunmen who abducted a Taiwanese tourist and shot dead her husband at an island resort off Semporna.
No demands have been made by any armed group for the 58-year-old woman identified as An Wei Chang. Her 57-year-old husband, Lim Min Hsu, was found dead with two bullet wounds on his chest.
The gunmen who arrived in a pump boat and raided Pom Pom Island and Spa Resort water villas at about 1am Friday had fled toward Pulau Mataking close to southern Philippines.
There were no immediate signs of the gunmen who staged the daring raid at the resort hardly a kilometre away from a General Operations Force base.
The security forces have cut off all sea routes into neighbouring southern Philippines.
Taiwan tourist shot dead, wife kidnapped from island in Sabah
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