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Three Indonesian hostages freed by Abu Sayyaf return to families
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (fourth right) poses with three Indonesian sailors freed by Abu Sayyaf militants in a handover ceremony to their families at the ministry on Oct. 7 (Photo Courtesy of Foreign Affairs Ministry/File)
T
he Foreign Ministry handed over three Indonesian hostages freed by the notorious Abu Sayyaf group to their respective families on Friday afternoon.
The three sailors are Ferry Arifin from Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Edi Suryono and Muhammad Mahbrur Dahri from South Sulawesi. The three men were crew members of tugboat Charles that were taken hostage by the militants on June 21.
The handover ceremony held at the ministry in Jakarta on Friday was also witnessed by representatives of PT. Rusianto Bersaudara, the owner of the tugboat, according to a statement from the ministry.
"This is a result of collaboration between all government elements. Even though [we worked] quietly, the government worked continuously to secure the release of the sailors," Retno said in the statement.
The three hostages and the company thanked the government while also urging them to speed up securing the release of the two sailors that remain in captivity.
Retno said the government was pushing efforts to secure the release of the two sailors under the coordination of the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, noting that efforts were being carried to ensure a safe release.
The government also urged companies to comply with the safe shipping corridors that had been agreed to under the Trilateral Agreement between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The corridors are meant to ease the supervision of security authorities from the three countries, she added. (rin)
