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Thursday, January 18, 2007
Military confirms death of top Sayyaf leader
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Military officials here confirmed Wednesday that a top Abu Sayyaf leader was killed in a gun battle on Tuesday in Talipao, Sulu.
Troops scored a major victory in a yearlong US-backed campaign to rout the Abu Sayyaf when it killed one of the group's most senior leaders, Abu Solaiman, known as the "engineer" and "planner" of major rebel group operations.
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Confirming Solaiman's death at a news conference in Manila, Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon said his troops acted on a tip provided by informants that was subsequently checked through the "technical capabilities" of US forces - a euphemism for intelligence gathering.
Solaiman, a 41-year-old whose real name is Jainal Antel Sali Jr., left behind a legacy of planning terror attacks and ransom kidnappings - atrocities that earned him a top spot on Philippine and US lists of most-wanted terrorists.
He once boasted that being trained as an engineer made it easier for him to destroy.
Washington has offered up to US$5 million for his capture or killing.
Military spokesman Bob Bacaro said in a phone interview that they were able to confirm the slain militant's identity through ""validation by people who worked with him and from pictures."
Bacaro said military units are on alert to prevent attempts by the Abu Sayyaf to stage attacks in retaliation for Solaiman's death.
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) spokesman Eugene Batara told reporters Wednesday that troops recovered the body of Solaiman in Mt. Dajo in Talipao, Sulu.
A 4 month-long offensive by Philippines troops, with training and intelligence support from US forces and military advisers, had Solaiman and other Abu Sayyaf leaders cornered in the Dajo mountain jungles on Jolo island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila, military officials said.
Two top Indonesian terror suspects, Dulmatin and Omar Patek, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people in Indonesia, are believed to be hiding with them, the military said.
Troops swooped down on Solaiman's camp Tuesday, fortified with 17 bunkers and resembling a bomb factory, sparking a three-hour gun battle that left two soldiers wounded and Solaiman dead, said regional army spokesman Major Eugene Batara.
Other insurgents escaped but troops are chasing them, he said.
Esperon said Philippine special forces photographed and buried the only body recovered from the clash site, not knowing that it was Solaiman. It was then exhumed and Jolo villagers, a rebel informant, and one of Solaiman's wives identified the body, he said.
"We have resolved that this group and their major commanders must be finished off, that this notorious group should see its end," Esperon said, and marked an "X" across Solaiman's face on a most-wanted poster.
He described him as the highest-ranking Abu Sayyaf commander killed by US-backed troops.
The military believes Sulaiman was one of at least two possible successors to Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, who was reportedly killed in a Jolo gun battle in September. The military has been trying to confirm Janjalani's death through DNA tests with the help of US authorities. Esperon said the results could be in this week.
If Janjalani, who also carries a US$5 million bounty on his head, is confirmed dead, that would leave Radulan Sahiron--a one-armed commander, Isnilon Hapilon, and Abu Pula among the Abu Sayyaf veterans still active.
Esperon estimated the number of guerrillas has dwindled to about 350, from about 1,000 in early 2000.
Solaiman started in a rebel group fighting for Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian nation in the 1970s, but broke away after it signed a peace deal in 1996. After working in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia for a few years, he decided to come back and join the Abu Sayyaf, according to police intelligence reports.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press last year, he was asked why he would want to destroy.
"I know that being once a builder of things would make me more efficient in destroying them," he replied, adding that the guerrilla attacks were retribution for the many atrocities against Muslims worldwide.
He is accused of plotting a February 2004 bombing that triggered a fire aboard Superferry 14, killing 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terror attack. Solaiman, acting as an Abu Sayyaf spokesman, claimed responsibility.
He also had a hand in a bomb attack that killed a US serviceman near an army camp in southern Zamboanga City in October 2002, Esperon said, as well as in the kidnapping of three Americans and Filipino tourists from southwestern Palawan island in 2001.
One of the Americans, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded. American missionary Gracia Burnham was wounded and rescued by army commandos but her husband, Martin, was killed during the operation that ended their yearlong jungle captivity.
"Based on the six months I had close contact with Solaiman during our year of captivity, I would say he was the most dangerous of the Abu Sayyaf leaders because he was filled with hate," Burnham said in a statement issued in Wichita, Kansas. (AP/With Ulysses E. Israel)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (January 18, 2007 issue)
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