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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
5 killed in Abu escape attempt
* Group of about 10 Abbu Sayyaf inmates, led by Alhamzer Manatad Limbong aka Kosovo and Kair Abdul Gapar involved in scape try; they were reportedly pressing for speedy trial and better treatment
* It started with one Abu Sayyaf, who was about to be escorted to a morning court hearing, overpowered a guard before he could be handcuffed, took a rifle and shot prison officers around him
* A state prosecutor handling several Abu Sayyaf cases told reporters that jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago; “we warned them repeatedly,” he added
MANILA - A botched jailbreak attempt dragged into the night after a deal for the surrender of armed Muslim-extremist detainees bogged down over a demand for dinner, officials said.
Three guards and two inmates at a maximum-security facility Camp Bagong Diwa were killed after suspected members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on the US list of terror groups, overpowered their guards and snatched their guns yesterday morning.
“We are exhausting all possible means to resolve this peacefully,” Metro Manila Police Chief Avelino Razon said. “The military option, which is the final option, is still there.”
After failing to get the inmates to yield on the food demand, some of the negotiators left for the night. The inmates were given until midnight Monday to surrender.
Police surrounded the jail in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, where 425 inmates are detained, including 129 suspected members and leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil, who had warned of a major assault if the inmates didn’t give up their weapons, said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by two Abu Sayyaf members.
A spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf suspects, detainee Hazdi Daie, threatened in a telephone interview that if police stormed the building, “then you will hear bombings all over Manila.”
The standoff began when a suspected Abu Sayyaf member, who was about to be escorted to a morning court hearing, overpowered a guard before he could be handcuffed, took a rifle and shot the prison officers around him, police officials said. Other inmates then grabbed weapons.
Three guards were killed and three other prison officials were wounded and rushed to a hospital, police said. Two Abu Sayyaf members also were killed.
It wasn’t clear if hostages were being held, Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr. said. But the inmates’ spokesman told dzBB radio that the suspects were holding about 100 hostages.
Police said only inmates remained inside the aging building in Camp Bagong Diwa, the headquarters of the National Capital Region Police Office.
Under the agreement to end the standoff, two inmates were to address the media, and the others were then to emerge in groups of about 10, said Mujib Hataman, a Muslim congressman who was negotiating with the inmates by telephone.
The prisoners had also demanded assurances they wouldn’t be harmed if they surrender, that they would get speedy trials and the right to air their grievances to authorities.
An armored personnel carrier moved in front of the steel-fenced detention center. Another was positioned outside the gate. In a building across from the detention center, about two dozen policemen took cover. Several ambulances were on standby.
The two Abu Sayyaf leaders are Alhamzer Manatad Limbong and Kair Abdul Gapar, Bataoil said.
Limbong, also known as Kosovo, was allegedly involved in a mass kidnapping in 2001-2002 that left several hostages dead, including two Americans, and a ferry bombing a year ago that killed more than 100 people in the country’s worst terror attack. Gapar is a kidnap-for-ransom suspect.
The Abu Sayyaf is notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages have been beheaded. A number of Abu Sayyaf suspects have managed to escape from jails.
State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who is handling several cases involving the Abu Sayyaf, told reporters that jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago because of an intercepted mobile phone conversation between Limbong and Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman.
“We warned them repeatedly... as late as last week of the planned escape. Apparently, our warnings were ignored,” he said.
Two years ago, a top terror suspect, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi, escaped from Manila police headquarters while serving a 12-year term for possession of explosives. He was killed in a shootout with police a few months later.
Last April, more than 50 inmates, led by suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, used a smuggled pistol to flee from a jail on southern Basilan Island in Mindanao. In December, a Filipino suspect who was being interrogated about a bomb found on a bus was fatally shot at a Manila detention center after allegedly killing a guard.
Jails across the country are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff. (AP/Sunnex)
(March 15, 2005 issue)
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