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Friday, June 16, 2006
Sayyaf man tagged in Malaysia kidnapping captured
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Government agents captured in the island province of Basilan an alleged Abu Sayyaf member implicated in the 2000 kidnapping of 21 mostly Asian and European holiday-goers in Malaysia's resort island of Sipadan, officials said Thursday.
Security agents swooped down on a seaside village in Isabela City and captured Gudairi Mohamad, alias Garing Mohamad, on Wednesday, officials said.
An official said the man, a follower of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, is being investigated if he was also connected to the kidnapping of Californian Guillermo Sobero and Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, along with 17 Filipinos, from the posh Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine island of Palawan in 2001.
Mohamad is currently under interrogation at a military base in Zamboanga City, and that up to three witnesses were willing to confront him to prove his involvement in the Sipadan kidnapping.
But Wahab Akbar, the governor of Basilan province, said security forces arrested the wrong man. "Mohamad is innocent. They should have consulted me, because I know who should be arrested and who should not be," Akbar said, adding the man's family sought his help to secure Gudairi's freedom.
He said the man is a mere fisherman and not a member of the Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the series of kidnappings and bombings in the troubled region.
He said Gudairi was arrested after he was mistaken as Pendamin Mohamad, a wanted man in Basilan. "I know the situation and condition of Basilan like the palm of my hand, just like many other military and police officers assigned in Basilan," Akbar said.
Akbar has demanded the immediate release of the suspect.
But Captain Ritche Pabilonia, a spokesman for the Southern Command, disputed Akbar's claims, saying Mohamad was positively identified by two former Sipadan hostages. "He was positively identified by two Sipadan victims now under the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice," he said.
Pabilonia said the arrest of Mohamad was the result of a special operation between intelligence units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
"Joint intelligence units of the AFP conducted special intelligence operations in Isabela City that led to the apprehension of Abu Sayyaf member Daring Mohammad involved in the Sipadan kidnapping," he said.
It was not known if Mohamad was also involved in previous bomb attacks in Basilan and Zamboanga City that killed dozens of people over the years.
Last month, security forces, aided by informants, also captured Abu Sayyaf militant Komeni Pael, who was similarly linked to the spate of killings and kidnappings in Basilan and Sulu islands. Pael's group beheaded several Filipino kidnapped victims after their families failed to pay ransom money, the military said.
The military relies heavily on intelligence provided by civilians and informants about the terrorist group. Many Abu Sayyaf leaders on the island were either arrested or killed with the help of informants in exchange for huge ransom offered by the United States and the Philippine governments.
Washington offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Khadaffy Janjalani. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also put up P100 million rewards for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive.
Philippine and US military forces in the south have in the past distributed updated lists of wanted Abu Sayyaf posters and gave away thousands of bottles of mineral water labeled with photographs and bounty information of terrorist leaders. The US included the group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(June 16, 2006 issue)
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