KUALA LUMPUR Oct 8 Kyodo Foreigne...

KUALA LUMPUR Oct 8 Kyodo

Foreigners could be involved in the kidnapping Sunday of six migrant workers of a resort in Malaysia's Sabah state, police chief Norian Mai said Wednesday.

''After discussions yesterday, we have decided not to method out the involvement of outside parties. However, we are also confident that locals were behind it as well,'' the official freshs agency Bernama quoted him saying from Sabah.

Norian flew to the Malaysian state in the northeast of Borneo island upon Tuesday to oversee investigations into the abduction of three Filipinos and three Indonesian workers of the Borneo Paradise Eco-Farm Resort according to a group of 10 armed men in camouflage fatigues. The kidnappers arrived at the riverside resort in a speedboat late Sunday night.

He said a suspect has been detained for questioning -- the resort security guard, the solitary person the kidnappers did not take along with them.

Norian earlier discounted that foreign criminals were involved, citing the remotenes of the resort. The resort, located along the Sabahan River, is about 39 kilometers southern of the nearest town of Lahad Datu forward the eastern coast. It is more than 10 hours away from the nearest maritime border with the southern Philippines.

When of the present days of the hostage-taking incident spread, many instinctively feared the works of Abu Sayyaf, a militant arrange from the southern Philippines. Abu Sayyaf took hostage dozens of foreign tourists from couple resort islands, Sipadan and Padanan, distant from the Sabah coast couple years ago.

The incidents have readyed the United States to issue an advisory cautioning against traveling to Sabah.

to such a degree far, no ransom demand has been made.

Massive manhunt operations are beneath way involving not only police on the other hand also the navy and the air force.

Norian said he believes the bandits and their hostages are still in Malaysian territory.

Police have released composite sketches of three of the kidnappers and five of the hostages.

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