Roland Ullah, a diving instructor in a Malaysian resort, has formally joined his abductors, the Abu Sayyaf group, in Jolo, southern Philippines, the military said in a radio interview.

Ullah joined the Abu Sayyaf camp of Mujib Susukan and Ghalib Andang, also known as Commander Robot, based in Jolo, said the report, which quoted military intelligence sources.

Ullah was earlier called the mole who told the Abu Sayyaf group about the presence of foreign tourists in a resort in Sipadan, Malaysia, which resulted in the hostage-taking in April 2000.

Ullah is a Tausog (a Muslim ethnic group) from Jolo who migrated to Malaysia to work as a diving instructor. Sources said he was also a cook in the resort.

"Please release my husband," Ullah's wife Joy, 34, pleaded with the Abu Sayyaf group, saying her husband had been forced to join the bandits because he is afraid he might be beheaded.

"I have been praying for my husband's freedom. I know he is still alive. I don't have the means to survive with our two children," she said after emerging from the information bureau of the armed forces southern command where she tried to get an update on the fate of her husband.

"Why are they (Abu Sayyaf group) still keeping my husband? We are poor and we cannot afford to pay any ransom," she said.

She gave birth to their second child, now one-year-old, whom she carried when her husband was abducted in Sipadan. Their first child is now four years old.

The Malaysian government extended a $ 588 (P 30,000) assistance to them last year.