Sayyaf Informant Gets Reward Money

A masked civilian holds his P150,000 reward from the Philippine military on Friday 20 Oct 2006 in Zamboanga City. The man helped troops in capturing an Abu Sayyaf militant Isnain Aminul in Basilan island in 2004. Aminul is tagged as one of one of those who kidnapped US missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and California man Guillermo Sobero, in Palawan island in 2001. (Mindanao Examiner/Uly Israel)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 20 Oct) - Southern Philippines military officials rewarded a civilian informant P150,000 for helping soldiers capture an Abu Sayyaf militant implicated in the kidnapping of three US citizens five years ago.

Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Francisco Callero handed the money to the masked informant inside the tightly guarded Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City. "This reward is part of the government program to encourage civilians to help us in the campaign against terrorism," he told the Mindanao Examiner.

The informant, wearing a sweat shirt and a pair of dark sunglasses, did not speak to reporters after receiving the money and was whisked away by soldiers. Callelero said the man led soldiers in capturing Isnain Aminul in Basilan island in 2004.

The military tagged Aminul as one of Abu Sayyaf gunmen who raided and kidnapped Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and California man Guillermo Sobero and 17 Filipino holiday-makers on the posh Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine island of Palawan in 2001.

Guillermo Sobero was beheaded in 2001 in Basilan island while Martin Burnham was shot dead a year later during a US-led military rescue operation in the province of Zamboanga del Norte.

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.

Washington offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including its chieftain 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. (With a report from Darwin Wee)