"According to more detailed information I received on Wednesday evening, they are all fine. Thank God, they are fine," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said said.
Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said here on Thursday that the condition of the four crew members of tugboat Henry, who are still being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf armed group in the Philippines, is fine.

"According to more detailed information I received on Wednesday evening, they are all fine. Thank God, they are fine," she said.

The four crew members being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf group have been identified as Aryanto (skipper), Piter (chief officer), Dede (second officer) and Samsir.

Retno said she was monitoring the development of the case, conditions and location of the hostages, who were abducted while at sea near the border between the Philippines and Malaysia.

She said Indonesia has also stepped up coordination with the Philippines government and authorities with regard to securing the release of the hostages.

"As you know, yesterday we held a bilateral meeting with the Philippines Foreign Minister with regards to helping release the hostages," she said.

The boat was hijacked by the Abu Sayyaf group on March 26, which means the hostages have been with the hostage takers for more than a month.

The Abu Sayyaf group had released 10 Indonesians they were holding hostage on Sunday, May 1, after kidnapping them on March 26.

Following the hostage-taking incident, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia held a tri-lateral meeting in Yogyakarta on Thursday.

"The meeting today produced a four-point declaration," Retno stated at the Gedung Agung building.

She said the three ASEAN member countries had agreed to conduct joint and coordinated maritime patrols in a bid to maintain regional security.

According to the minister, all countries participating in the tri-lateral meeting had also agreed to offer immediate help in case a ship was found to be under any threat or in need of assistance.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines had also agreed to exchange information among their intelligence agencies in response to any emergency situation.

The three nations will also design a special communication channel soon that is aimed at expediting communication to anticipate any threatening incident.

Besides Retno, the tri-lateral meeting was also attended by Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Jose Rene Almendras and Malaysian Foreign Minister, Sri Anifah Haji Aman, as well as Indonesian Defense Forces Commander General, Gatot Nurmantyo and military officers of the two other nations.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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