SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2001

We don't know where Manser is, says Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A Malaysian state official said Friday his government had no idea where missing Swiss activist Bruno Manser was, the national news agency reported Friday.

Abdul Aziz Husain, secretary of Sarawak state on Borneo island, was quoted by Bernama as saying the government had received no reports that Manser was living with the Penans, the world's last remaining nomadic rainforest tribe.

The Bruno Manser Fund has said 46-year-old Manser entered Sarawak clandestinely May 22, after which he disappeared. But Abdul Aziz said the government had no knowledge of the activist entering the state, and that Manser would be considered "an illegal immigrant without having the valid travel documents" if he had.

Swiss-based family and friends have continued to try to locate Manser, though a ground and helicopter search of dense jungle early this week proved fruitless.

Manser has long been a champion of Sarawak's Penan people. He lived with the group, which eats palm, bear and boar deep in the lush forests of Sarawak on Borneo Island, from 1984 to 1990.

According to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, its embassy in Malaysia may send officers to the Sarawak capital of Kuching later this month in a new effort to locate Manser.

Manser was banned from Sarawak after he lead a campaign in the state to stop logging in the rainforests. Authorities accused him of instigating the Penans to go against the government.

 

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