The Eastern Sabah Security Command has not received any report of a German man being kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group yesterday, said ESSCom commander DCP Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid.

He said no official complaint or police report was received from any yacht association on the alleged abduction as reported by the local press quoting the Associated Press.

"No report has been received; we are still in the process of verifying the matter," he told Bernama today.

The local press today quoted AP as saying that a German national by the name of Juegen Kantner was allegedly abducted and his female friend was shot dead after a group of armed men boarded their yacht off the coast of Malaysia yesterday.

According to the report, Abu Sayyaf militants had claimed responsibility for the incident, and the Philippine Army was trying to verify the reports.

It was also reported that the yacht was last seen in the waters of Tambisan, Lahad Datu, last week. -- Bernama