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Monday, September 08, 2003
3 'Sayyafs' flown to Zambo to face charges
By Edwin G. Espejo
GENERAL SANTOS -- A Nomad plane from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) brought to Zamboanga City Sunday three suspected Abu Sayyaf members arrested by a joint police and military team in General Santos City last week.
Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano, Army 601st Brigade commanding general, presented the suspects to the local press at the holding area of the PAF headquarters in Buayan before they were flown to Zamboanga to face charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
He claimed the three have pending warrants of arrest and will be presented to the appropriate courts in Zamboanga City on Monday.
The military claimed witnesses brought in from Zamboanga City during the weeklong tuna festival celebration identified Maa Manggot, Musa Impo and Ryan Harid Ambay as Abu Sayyaf members.
Sources said the witnesses, whom the military declined to identify, were former hostages of the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo and Basilan.
Ambay was apprehended at the Oval Plaza Wednesday while cousins Manggot and Impo were nabbed Thursday morning in Lion's Beach as they were reportedly watching the Bankarera event of a local radio station.
The three, the military added, reportedly admitted they are members of the extremist group operating in Jolo and Basilan.
News of their arrests was kept under wraps, presumably to avoid alarming visitors who trooped to General Santos last week.
Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. also admitted he asked several media outlets here not to reveal the apprehension of the three suspects as follow-up operations were still being conducted by the police and the military.
He then congratulated the police and military who participated in the operation.
Col. Edgardo Gurrea, chief of Joint Task Force Gensan (JTFG), told reporters the suspects arrived in the city for rest and recreation.
He said they were unarmed and did not resist arrest.
Abdul Wahani, barangay chairman of Tinutu in Maasim, Sarangani, claimed Manggot and Impo are longtime residents of the barangay and are just plain fishermen.
On Friday last week, Wahani appealed to the local media here to help locate the two Tinutu residents whom he said were arrested by four unidentified men.
But Yano, who acknowledged the arrest of the three on Sunday, said they have strong evidence the two are members of the Abu Sayyaf.
"Just because they are residents here does not mean they are not involved in criminal activities," Yano told reporters when informed that Wahani joined in the effort to locate the suspects.
He said the 18-year-old Ambay, a resident of Glan in Saraangani, was reportedly under Commander Robot while Manggot and Impo belonged to the Abu Sayyaf faction headed by Khadaffy Janjalani.
Janjalani and 54 other fully armed Abu Sayyaf rebels landed in Barangay Libua in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat more than two months ago.
The military here believed the suspects served as contact persons of the Abu Sayyafs in Sarangani.
"Remember, the Al Harakatul Islamiya was first established in the city (General Santos) in 1992," Gurrea told reporters who covered the press conference.
Last month, the military also announced they captured six Abu Sayyaf members in Palimbang after they, too, were identified by their former hostages.
This brought to nine the total number of Abu Sayyaf members apprehended in the South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos (Socsksargen) area in two months. Sun.Star General Santos
(September 8, 2003 issue) |
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