Leader Of Radical Rajah Solaiman Group Captured In Basilan Island

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Dec) - Government soldiers captured an alleged leader of the radical Rajah Solaiman Movement linked to the terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, a marine spokesman said.

Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan said there is an ongoing operation to track down other members of the radical group, blamed for the spate of bombings in the Philippines, after troops captured Feliciano delos Reyes in Lamitan town late Thursday.

"Delos Reyes was seized by soldiers and he is being interrogated in Zamboanga City," Caculitan told the Mindanao Examiner by phone in Zamboanga City.

He said Delos Reyes was wanted by authorities after jumping bail from charges of illegal possession of explosives in Pangasinan province, north of Manila, in 2002. Authorities in Zamboanga City had arrested last year the alleged chieftain of the Rajah Solaiman, Ahmed Santos, and several of his followers.

Caculitan did not give details of the arrest. It was unknown if the Rajah Solaiman Movement was planning an attack, but the group was said to have targeted in the past areas frequented by Western tourists, including the red light district of Malate in the Philippine capital.

He said Delos Reyes, also known as Ustadz Abubakar, would be flown to Manila for further investigation. Delos Reyes' arrest came ahead of the visit next week of top U.S. military officials in Jolo island, where American forces are helping Filipino troops capture leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and two Jemaah Islamiya bombers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both wanted by Jakarta for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 200 mostly Western tourists.

Local military officials did not give any statement about the arrest.

According to a report last year by the International Crisis Group, The Rajah Solaiman is the radical fringe of the Balik-Islam movement, literally "return to Islam."

Members of the Rajah Solaiman Movement call themselves "reverts," not converts mainly for two reasons. First, they maintain that all humans are born free of sin into Islam, but, misled by parents or guardians, maybe brought up in other traditions. Secondly, they argue that Islam was the country's original religion, whose spread was forcibly reversed by Spanish colonial intervention.

The arrested ringleader of the group, Santos, converted to Islam in 1993 and married into the top ranks of the of the Abu Sayyaf group before the Rajah Solaiman was formally established in 2002.

The Philippine military said some commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front sheltered the Rajah Solaiman militants in Mindanao, but this was denied by the rebel group, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

The Rajah Solaiman was also blamed for the car bombing of the airport in Awang town in Maguindanao province in 2003, that left one person dead. (Mindanao Examiner)