UPDATE - Families fear for Indonesian sailors captive in Sulu

UPDATES TO FIX FORMATTING

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – Family members of seven Indonesian sailors held hostage by Daesh-linked militants in the Philippines’ troubled south have held a prayer ceremony as a ransom payment deadline was due to pass Monday.

The wife of one of the hostages, Elona Ramadhani, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that relatives and neighbors of the seven men abducted in June gathered at her home to pray Sunday night.

"We prayed for the safety of the hostages as the ransom submission deadline is up," the mother-of-three said, expressing fear that the Abu Sayyaf may kill her husband if its demand for a ransom of 250 million pesos ($5.4 million) was not paid.

She said she had been unable to sleep until morning, and is currently awaiting any news related to the hostages, hoping that their employer and government would soon secure their release.

The day before the deadline, Indonesia’s foreign minister said authorities had established intensive communication channels with the Philippines government for the release of its nationals.

Retno Marsudi underlined Sunday that the situation is more difficult than in previous situations, as Abu Sayyaf members are currently involved in an offensive with the Philippines government in their southern island stronghold of Sulu.

Earlier this year, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded two Canadian hostages after ransoms failed to be paid. It has also threatened to decapitate a Norwegian captured with them in September if a 300 million peso ransom demand is not met.

Dian Megawati, the wife of another of the seven Indonesian crew, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the foreign ministry was providing the families of kidnapping victims with psychological assistance.

“At first we were frustrated. But I'm sure [my husband] also fought there. So we should not be discouraged," she said.

Although Monday marked the deadline for the ransom payment, Megawati -- who had been contacted by the kidnappers earlier -- expressed her belief that the Abu Sayyaf would not carry out their ultimatum.

"When [they called] on August 1, the group said they would shoot the hostages one by one if the ransom was not immediately sent until August 15th. But I am sure it will not happen," she said.

The seven sailors were kidnapped June 20 when the Abu Sayyaf ambushed a tugboat -- the TB Charles -- carrying 13 Indonesians in the Sulu Sea. While six of the crew were released, seven others were taken, their abductors then demanding the ransom.

Outside of the seven men, the Abu Sayyaf is also reported to be holding the three-man Indonesian crew of a Malaysia-flagged fishing vessel abducted in early July.

The foreign ministry has said that Indonesian citizens have been seized in four different kidnappings in waters between the neighboring archipelagoes this year, although 14 Indonesians seized in two separate hijackings were released in May.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.

The Abu Sayyaf is one of two militant groups in the Philippines’ south that has pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process with the country's largest Moro group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, that Daesh could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.Families fear for Indonesian sailors captive in Sulu.