PETALING JAYA: The Sabah government will help arrange an immediate flight to Zamboanga City for the mother and wife of Jari Abdullah, a kidnap victim who was recently shot at and wounded while trying to flee his Abu Sayyaf’s captors in the Southern Philippines.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pix) yesterday said he would work with Wisma Putra to extend any humanitarian aid to Jari, now fighting for his live in a private hospital in Zamboanga City, Mindanao.
“We have decided to help send Jari’s mother and wife,” he said after a meeting with Foreign Ministry Deputy Secretary-General Datuk Nurshiwan Zainal Abidin.
According to Shafie, it would be decided whether to also send Jari’s two children to see and meet the victim.
Earlier, Shafie held a meeting with Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who called on him and to discuss Sabah’s security concerns.
Meanwhile, Nurshiwan said Wisma Putra would also give any help to the Malaysians who were victims of kidnapping.
“Assistance is devoted to humanitarian aspects,” he said.
A few days ago, Jari’s wife had stated that she would pray for her husband’s speedy recovery and that she was grateful that her husband managed to escape from the militancy group, Abu Sayyaf’s captive.
The 34-year-old Jari who hails from Kampung Sim Sim, Sandakan, was kidnapped on Dec 5 last year and was warded in a hospital in the Southern Philippines with severe head and chest injuries.
Malaysian officials aborted a plan to bring him over on a mercy flight to Kota Kinabalu as Jari’s health condition does not allow him to be flown to another hospital.
Jari was shot at and wounded during a gun-battle between the Abu Sayyaf’s militants and the Philippine authorities.
South Mindanao authorities’ spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana had stated that Jari found their marine soldiers at 4.25pm on Wednesday after the incident.
Jari was then flown to Bautista Hospital in Jolo town before being transferred to Zamboanga City for treatment.
On Dec 5, Jari and two Indonesians, Hari Ardiansya, 19, and Hariadin, 45, who worked with a fishery company were kidnapped at Pegasus Reef near Kinabatangan.
Some unconfirmed sources said the two other victims were subsequently released by the kidnappers but one was said to be weak. — The Borneo Post
