RP Soldiers Dig Body Of Top Terror Leader Killed In Jolo Island

MANILA (Mindanao Examienr / 27 Dec) - Philippine soldiers dug up a decomposing body believed to be that of a top terror leader linked to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya who was killed in fighting in the southern island of Jolo, officials said.

Officials said body of Khadaffy Janjalani, leader of the Abu Sayyaf group, was exhumed Wednesday from a shallow grave. A civilian informant led troops at the gravesite in the hinterlands of Kabontakas village in Patikul town, said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, a spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippine said.

"We cannot confirm whether it was really Janjalani or not, except for the words of the informant. We have ordered DNA testing to confirm if the body really belongs to Janjalani," he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Bacarro said U.S. and Philippine authorities were conducting the DNA test.

Janjalani was believed killed in September in clashes with soldiers.(Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Ordered To Get Sayyaf, JI leaders Before Christmas

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Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon, top, orders Friday 24 Nov 2006 troops to intensify the hunt for Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya leaders in Jolo island. (Mindanao Examiner)

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Nov) – Philippine military chief General Hermogenes Esperon on Friday inspected troops in the strife-torn Jolo island and ordered security forces to capture the leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and two Jemaah Islamiya bombers before Christmas.

The order came barely a day after policemen killed an alleged Abu Sayyaf gunman in a fire fight and captured two others in the village of Ayala in Zamboanga City late Thursday.

The fighting broke out after the militants attacked cops who were sent to arrest them. One militant was able to elude arrest, said Supt. Angelito Casimiro, chief of the regional police intelligence division.

"The militants were believed behind the spate of killings of policemen in Zamboanga and Jolo island the past months," he told the Mindanao Examiner in Zamboanga City.

In Jolo, Esperon also held a two-hour closed door meeting with senior military commanders in Jolo inside the tightly guarded headquarters of the Army's 104th Infantry Brigade.

Esperon did not give all details about the meeting, but said he discussed with other commanders the repositioning of troops involved in the Abu Sayyaf hunt on the island.

"We will reposition our forces to be more effective in the campaign against the terrorists. Told the troops to get the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya before Christmas and intensify the operation against the terrorists," Esperon said in an interview.

He was referring to the Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both wanted by Indonesia for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and the 2003 JW Mariot hotel bombing in Jakarta.

The military also tagged the Abu Sayyaf group as behind last month's bombing of a police headquarters in Jolo island that wounded three people and the bombing in March of a Church-run cooperative store that left nine people dead and 20 injured in downtown Jolo.

The Philippine military is holding Dulmatin's wife, Indonesian Istiada Oemar Sovie and her two children. The woman and her two boys ages 6 and 8 were arrested after Filipino soldiers pursuing Dulmatin raided a terrorist hideout in Patikul town last month.

Esperon said the Abu Sayyaf is protecting Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo island. As many as 31 Jemaah Islamiya militants are believed hiding in the southern Philippines, particularly in Mindanao where other rebel groups are operating. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf Behind Jolo Kidnapping: Military

Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo shows photographs of two Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, brothers Anni and Iting Sailani. And the freed hostages, from top, Romeo Rivera, Isidro Amoramo, Larry Bautista and Reynaldo Rubio. (Mindanao Examiner/Uly Israel)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 21 Oct) – The Philippine military on Saturday tagged the Abu Sayyaf group as behind the kidnapping of a US aid worker and three other Filipinos in the troubled island of Jolo.

The four hostages were recovered by troops on a village in Parang town on Friday and were brought to Zamboanga City where military doctors examined them.

The victims, engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were kidnapped Tuesday while inspecting a Washington-funded road project in the town.

Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo identified three kidnappers as brothers Anni and Iting Sailani and Bong Iskandal.

“Three of their captors were positively identified as members of the Abu Sayyaf Group’s Urban Terror Group based from the pictures presented to the victims as: Bong Iskandal, Anni Sailani and Iting Sailani,” Cedo said at a news conference where the four freed hostages told their ordeals.

Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island, said the four had been freed without ransom. “The kidnappers freed the hostages without ransom because of mounting military pressure,” Sealana said.

He said the kidnappers freed the hostages before a 24-hour military ultimatum for their release was to end on Friday. He said villagers angered by the incident also threatened to seize the families and relatives of the kidnappers if they don’t free the four men.

But the regional police chief Joel Goltiao told reporters that the four had escaped from their captors late Wednesday. “They were able to escape from their captor; that is what they told the police,” Goltiao said.

One of the freed victim said the kidnappers demanded at least P30 million ransoms in exchange for their freedom.

“The kidnappers asked P20 million from me and my companion and another P10 million from Rivera,” Rubio said.

He said the kidnappers did not harm them and said they only wanted money. “We were not harmed,” he said. “I knew the risk when we went to Jolo and I also know that there are more good people on the island. I still have trust on them,” he said.

Rubio said his captors took his ATM (automated teller machine) card and was able to withdraw about P60,000 from a bank in Jolo island. “I was told about it by the bank,” he said.

Despite the kidnapping, Rivera said he will return to Jolo island to finish the stalled road project.

“I will return to Jolo despite what had happened. I will return to continue the work that will benefit a lot of Muslims,” said Rivera, who nearly broke into tears while telling their ordeal in the hands of their captors.

His companion, Bautista, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said his ordeal has made him closer to God.

“The experience made me closer to God. My ordeal has made my faith in God stronger,” he said.

The military said troops were pursuing the kidnappers, who had been implicated in the spate of killings of soldiers and civilians, including Filipino news photographer Gene Boyd Lumawag two years ago, on Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila. (Mindanao Examiner)

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)

No Ransom, No Negotiations For Kidnapped US Aid Worker, 3 Others In Jolo Island

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Oct) - The Philippine military on Thursday said it would not negotiate or pay ransom in exchange for the safe release of four people, one of them a US aid worker, kidnapped in the southern island of Jolo, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf militants, blamed by authorities for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the restive region.

"We are firm in the government's no ransom policy and we don't negotiate with kidnappers," Army Captain Noel Abello, the acting spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island, said the four were seized Tuesday by their own bodyguards in Parang town after inspecting a Washington-funded road project near Biid village.

Sealana said engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were being held on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.

He said the victims were returning to their base in Jolo town when six of their native bodyguards seized them for a still unknown reason.

But the island's governor Benjamin Loong has formed a negotiating team to seek the freedom of the four men.

"They are trying to open up negotiations with the kidnappers. We don't know of any breakthrough as this time as far as the negotiation is concerned," Sealana said in a separate interview.

He said the kidnappers were moving from one hideout to another in the towns of Parang, Indanan and Maimbung to avoid detection by the military.

Leaders of the former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front, also contacted the military on Thursday to say that they will not provide sanctuary to the kidnappers and have ordered its forces to rescue the four men should they stray in areas where the MNLF is operating, Sealana said.

He said troops are tracking down the kidnappers. "There is no way out of this mess, but for the kidnappers to free all the four hostages without ransom or demands," he said.

Rivera's group was working on a road construction in Parang town, while Rubio and Bautista, who arrived on Tuesday from Manila, were only inspecting the project.

The US Embassy in Manila has condemned the kidnappings. A contingent of US troops is in Jolo and training local soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.

It was not immediately known whether the bodyguards had links with the Abu Sayyaf or not.

The Abu Sayyaf group is active on the island and has kidnapped many Filipino and foreigners in the past in exchange for money.

Some of their victims who failed to pay ransom were beheaded. (Mindanao Examiner)

6 Soldiers Wounded In Sayyaf Clash In Jolo Island

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Oct) - Six government soldiers were wounded in fierce clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, officials said.

Officials said a still undetermined number of gunmen were killed and wounded in the weekend fighting in Mt Tunggol in Patikul town, where security forces raided a terrorist hideout.

"Six of our soldiers are wounded and we still don't know how many terrorists were killed and wounded in the clash," a regional army spokesman, Major Eugenio Batara, told the Mindanao Examiner on Monday.

Batara described the one-hour battle as "ferocious" and said army troops clashed with the group of local Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, wanted by the Philippines for his role in the spate of kidnappings of foreigners and terrorism in the restive region.

"The fighting was ferocious and military intelligence reports suggested many casualties on the side of the terrorist groups," he said.

Batara did not say whether two Jemaah Islamiya militants Dulmatin and Umar Patek, wanted by Jakarta for the 2002 Bali nightclubs bombings, had fought the soldiers side by side with Sahiron's group.

"The continuing operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah led to the encounter. The government will continue operations until the terrorist ASG and JI are neutralized," he said.

Batara said troops earlier captured an Abu Sayyaf hideout in Patikul's Mt Bagsak and recovered empty boxes of mortar and rifle ammunition, surgical blades, disposable syringe and empty cases of gauze pad with plaster and other medical paraphernalia.

"The terrorists could be running out of food and medical supplies because of the government offensive. We will choke them until they are cornered in Patikul," he said.

Security forces last week arrested the Indonesian wife of wanted Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in a raid at terrorist hideout in Patikul.

Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro said, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, and her two children were detained by soldiers. The woman is being investigated whether she had a role in Dulmatin's terror activities.

Bacarro said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman, one of Asia’s most wanted Jemaah Islamiya leaders

Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.

The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs.

The group was largely blamed by Philippine authorities in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded more than 100 people. One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.

The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization and is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two night clubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians, including seven U.S. citizens.

Dulmatin fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub—who trained members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, said Zachary Abusa, an Asian terror expert.

In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in conjunction with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training. He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.

Abusa said Dulmatin, along with Zulkarnaen and Abu Rusdan, was designated for involvement in terrorism by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April, and placed on the UN's 1267 Committee for terrorist financing in early 2005.

The MILF has denied any ties with the Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)