Jakarta-wapresri.go.id. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said, the Indonesian government is in the process of negotiation with the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines that has reportedly apprehended an Indonesian-flagged vessel and taken its Indonesian crewmen hostage.
“We are putting forward dialogue to prioritize the safety of the hostage. There are many factors to consider,” said the Vice President as he addressed the media at the Vice President’s office in Jakarta, Thursday (April, 7).
Government, he added, refused to get pressure from any party and made every effort to speed up the release of the hostage.
“We are not doing nothing. We are proposing diplomacy and negotiation in this process,” he said.
As reported in the media, the Abu Sayyaf group allegedly hijacked an Indonesian tugboat Brahma 12 on Saturday while en route to the Philippines from Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.
Information about the hijacking first came to light via the Facebook account of the boat’s captain, Peter Tonsen Barahama.
The militant group has asked for a ransom of around one million US dollars to release the hostage.
