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Sunday, August 13, 2006
Kidnapped mom rescued, son and 5 others killed
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Security forces rescued a businesswoman and killed four suspected militants who last month allegedly kidnapped the woman and her son, whose headless body was discovered Saturday, an army officer said.
Officials said the severed head of Jeffrey Selvin, 27, was found by civilians in front of the police headquarters in downtown Jolo at around 6 a.m. Saturday, but his body had not been recovered.
A police officer also was killed and two others were wounded in the clash with the gunmen, who were suspected members of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, on the outskirts of southern Jolo town, Col. Pablo Lorenzo said.
Soldiers and police in pursuit caught up with the kidnappers later, killing four and rescuing the woman after a gunfight, Lorenzo said, giving no other details.
The Selvins were kidnapped in July 27 outside their house at Gandasuli Road in Jolo town. They own a bakery shop in Jolo.
Brigadier General Alexander Aleo, the island's military chief, said troops were pursuing the Abu Sayyaf. "We are tracking down the terrorists on the island," he said.
In June, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen freed a kidnapped 41-year old pharmacy owner Bren Vergara after more than two months in captivity after their family allegedly paid more than one million pesos in ransom. The man was snatched April 12 together with his ailing 70-year old mother Caridad Vergara, who had been earlier freed near Jolo town.
Officials said both hostages were tortured by their guards during their captivity in the mountain and the man was beaten so badly to the point that he nearly died. Gunmen snatched the duo outside their pharmacy store in downtown Jolo.
In August 2002, the Abu Sayyaf also beheaded two male members of a Jehovah's Witness, a Christian sect, two days after militants kidnapped them and four other women in Jolo.
Their severed heads were found inside plastic bags containing notes calling for "jihad against infidel and non-believers of Islam" in the main market in Jolo town. Their relatives said the six were not on Jolo to proselytize the island's Muslim population, but only selling cosmetics and herbal teas to supplement their income.
The notes included a passage from the Koran and were written in Arabic and the local Tausug dialect. "This is what will happen to those who do not believe in Allah...This is part of our jihad," said a note found near one of the heads.
The Abu Sayyaf had carried high-profile kidnappings in the past, including a daring raid on the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan in 2000 where it seized 21 Asian and European holiday-makers, and a similar attack on the posh Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine island of Palawan a year later where militants seized 17 Filipinos and three US citizens, two of whom, including an American hostage, were later killed and beheaded.
Washington offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Khadaffy Janjalani. President Gloria Arroyo also put up P100 million rewards for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive.(AP/Sunnex)
(August 13, 2006 issue)
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