Sayyaf Kidnapped 6 Muslims In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 08, 2008) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen hijacked a jeep transporting fuel and seized all its six passengers and driver at a village in Maimbung town in Sulu province in southern Philippines, police said on Tuesday.

Police said the kidnapping occurred in the village of Kulasi where Abu Sayyaf militants also snatched a Muslim teacher last week.

“There is an ongoing investigation and police reports said six people were seized in Kulasi village by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits headed by Gafur Jumdail,” the provincial police chief, Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the victims, all local Muslims, were on a jeep transporting six drums of gasoline when gunmen flagged down their jeep.

“We still don’t know the motive of the kidnapping. It could grudge or anything,” Kasim said.

Last week, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen have freed a kidnapped Muslim teacher, Lullong Marrack, hours after he was seized in Kulasi village also. The same gang, Kasim said, was responsible in the latest kidnapping.

The 60-year old Marrack was released unharmed. It was unknown whether Marrack's family paid ransom or not in exchange for the safe release of the victim. But other sources in the town said the victim's family negotiated for the freedom of the teacher.

Maimbung is a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf group with ties to the al-Qaeda of Usama bin Laden and Indonesia's terror group, Jemaah Islamiya.

On Saturday, security forces killed an Abu Sayyaf man, Sam Andal, in a clash on Pandami island off Sulu province. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding a kidnapped trader, Rosalie Lao, since January. It was unknown whether Andal was involved in the kidnapping of the 45-year old Lao, a local Muslim with a Chinese ancestry.

Last month, the Abu Sayyaf freed a kidnapped Muslim teacher, Omar Taup, of Notre Dame University in Tawi-Tawi province. Taup was kidnapped January 16 after militants raided the school and killed its Catholic priest, Reynaldo Roda, after he resisted the kidnappers.

Police did not say if ransom was paid for the safe release of Taup, but the Abu Sayyaf had earlier demanded P1 million for his freedom. (Mindanao Examiner)