Indonesia, Philippine Foreign Ministers Meet on Sailor Hostages

Jakarta, (Antara) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Philippine counterpart Perfecto Yasay Jr. to discuss way of freeing a number of Indonesian sailors held hostage by armed group in southern Philippines.

The bilateral meeting was held on the sidelines of an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane, Laos, a news release issued by the foreign office said here on Monday.

The two foreign ministers exchanges information  on developments and situation in South Philippines where a number of Indonesian sailors  and crewmen of a fishing boat are  held hostage by the group believed to be under militant leader  Abu Sayyaf.

On June 20, 2016 seven sailors of the Tugboat Charles 001 tugboat  and the Robby 152 barge kidnapped by the separatists at the Sulu sea.

While attempts were made to negotiate the release of the seven sailors, three more Indonesian crewmen of a Malaysian fishing boat were held hostage on July 9, 2016.

The three crewmen of fishing boats were taken away by the armed kidnappers to the Tawi Tawi waters in South Philippines.

The kidnappers took only holders of Indonesian passports and others were allowed to go free .

In May , 14 Indonesian sailors  were released by the same  group of separatists without paying ransom after a month long ordeal.

Later that month, a Canadian hostage was beheaded by the kidnappers after the deadline passed for ransom.

The Indonesian government has said it would use any way possible to free the hostages.

Military option, however, is not possible as the Philippine constitution disallows foreign military involvement.

President Joko Widodo has sent a letter to Manila asking the  Philippine government to seriously address the problem of frequent kidnapping of sailors in southern Philippines waters.(*)