Sayyaf defies military offensive, bombs bridge in Sulu

Abu Sayyaf militants bombed a bridge in Sulu's Indanan town on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. The bombing came hours after militants blasted a US military vehicle in the town killing two counterterrorism soldiers. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Nickee Butlangan).

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 30, 2009) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants have blown up a bridge in Sulu province in the southern Philippines, defying an all-out government offensive aimed at crushing terrorism that had killed two US soldiers on Tuesday.

Police on Wednesday deployed more forces in Indanan town after militants, backed by Moro rebels, bombed the bridge in the village of Bunot late Tuesday. It was the second bridge bombed by the Abu Sayyaf in a span of one week.

The attack came hours after a deadly roadside bombing that killed two US counterterrorism soldiers - SSG Jack Martin and SFC Christopher Shaw and a Filipino marine PFC Estrada – in Kagay village also in the town of Indanan.

A police post was also bomb on Tuesday morning in the village of Kasanyangan in Jolo town, but there were no reports of casualties.

“We have deployed more forces to protect the civilians from possible attacks by the Abu Sayyaf,“ said Senior Superintendent Muhibuddin Ismail, the provincial police chief.

US troops are deployed in Sulu since 2006 and assisting the Philippine military in defeating the Abu Sayyaf. Although security officials deny US forces were directly involved in combat operations, there were numerous reports from civilians that American soldiers actually participated in the operations aimed at capturing or killing militant leaders in Sulu and other areas in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

A US soldier was also killed and another wounded in a bomb attack at a roadside cafe near an army in Zamboanga City in October 2002.

Last week, eight Filipino soldiers were also killed after militants ambushed their truck in Indanan town. The military said at least 34 militants were also slain in the fighting, including an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ustadz Muktar, a cousin of militant leader Isnilon Hapilon, who is wanted by the US government for terrorism.

But of the 34 slain militants, only two bodies had been recovered by soldiers.

The Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996, accused the military of attacking one of their bases in Indanan that killed two former rebels.

US Special Forces were aiding the Philippine military in the hunt for militants, according to Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the Western Mindanao Command.

He said the US military is providing intelligence to the local troops in the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in Sulu.

Dolorfino said troops were tracking down at least four most senior Abu Sayyaf leaders – Dr Abu, Albader Parad, Isnilon Hapilon and Yasser Igasan – including two foreign Jemaah Islamiya terrorists Mauiya and Quayem and some 200 followers.

The series of attacks occurred just as troops continue their operation against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants tagged as behind the series of bomb attacks and kidnappings for ransom in Sulu, one of five provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region.

Madarang Sali, deputy supreme commander of the Bangsamoro National Liberation Front, said military offensive against the MNLF continues in Sulu. He said government operations were directed as MNLF leader Khaid Ajibunm who had escaped a military raid last week. (MIndanao Examiner)

Kampo Ni Isnaji Galit Kay Drilon; MNLF Nagiinit Na!

Ang napalayang si Ces Drilon ng hindi mapigilan ang emosyon sa naganap na pagdukot sa kanyang grupo sa Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 24, 2008) – Matindi umano ang galit ng kampo ni Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji sa pinalayang ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon dahil sa pagkakasangkot ng pulitiko sa kidnapping charges na inihain ng pulisya.

Maging ang Moro National Liberation Front at mga supporters ni Isnajio ay galit na rin kay Drilon dahil sa bigo itong ipagtanggol at linisin ang pangalan ng mayor na siyang nakipag-negosasyon sa Abu Sayyaf sa paglaya ng reporter at kasamahan nito.

Dinukot nuong June 8 si Drilon kasama ang dalwang cameraman nito na sina Jimmy Encarnacion at Angelo Valderama, gayun rin ang kanilang guide na si Prof. Octavio Dinampo ng Mindanao State University.

Pinalaya ang apat kapalit diumano ng P20 milyon ransom, ayon kay Atty. Firdausi Abbas na siyang abogado ni Isnaji na ngayon ay nakapiiit sa Maynila kasama ang anak na si Haider na tumulong rin sa negosasyon. Pinili ng Abu Sayyaf si Isnaji bilang negosasyador, subalit isinabit naman ito ng pulisya at sinabing nakinabang sa ransom na ibinayad ng ABS-CBN at pamilya ni Drilon at isang mayamang Intsik na hindi naman sinabi ang pangalan.

Ilang ulit rin na itinanggi ng ABS-CBN at ng pamilya ni Drilon na nagbigay sila ng ransom sa Abu Sayyaf, ngunit inamin naman ng pulisya na nagkaroon nga ng bayaran. Tumulong rin si Sen. Loren Legarda sa pagpapalaya kina Drilon at maging ito ay nagsabing walang ransom na ibiniyad sa Abu Sayyaf.

Itinanggi ni Isnaji ang lahat ng akusasyon sa kanya at sa anak.

“Ces Drilon should speak out the truth because she knew that Mayor Isnaji has nothing to do with the kidnapping. She should open up her mind now. Her conscience will not let hey calm,” ani pa ni Gafur Kanain, ang executive assistant ni Isnaji.

Sinumbatan pa ni Kanain si Drilon at sinabing walang utang na loob ito. “She cried many times begging for the help of Mayor Isnaji and telling him not to back out from negotiations especially when the Abu Sayyaf had threatened to behead them and now what? Iniwan nila si Mayor at pinagbintangan pa,” wika pa ni Kanain sa isang panayam.

Sinabi pa ni Kanain na maging ang MNLF ay nagpupulong na rin para sa kanilang gagawing hakbang. Hindi naman sinabi ni Kanain kung ano ang plano ng MNLF.

“The entire MNLF leadership and the ground commanders will be holding a command conference anytime to decide once and for all. We silenced our guns because we are sincere in fulfilling the 1996 peace agreement. The fabricated charges and accusations against Brother Isnaji is an act of provocation, a blatant insult and disrespect to the entire leadership of the MNLF,” ani pa umano ng isang text message ng MNLF na ipinasa naman ni Kanain sa Mindanao Examiner.

Si Isnaji ay isa rin mataas na opisyal ng MNLF at miyembro ng Central Committee ng dating rebeldeng grupo. Ito rin ang presidente ng provincial League of Municipalities.

Naunang nagpahayag ng pagka-dismaya si MNLF chieftain Muslimin Sema sa pagkakasangkot ni Isnaji sa kidnapping at sinabing suportado ng buong hukbo ng grupo ang mayor.

Si Isnaji rin ang nasa likod ng pagpapalaya ng mahigit sa 100 katao na binihag ng mga rebeldeng Muslim sa Zamboanga City nuong 2002 na binansagang “Cabatangan Siege.” (Mindanao Examiner)

Big Rally Set In Sulu For Detained Mayor, Son Linked To ABS-CBN Kidnapping

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 22, 2008) – Followers of a detained Sulu town mayor implicated in the kidnapping of a Philippine television presenter and 3 others are set to hold a huge rally Monday to show their support to the embattled politician.

“We will hold a big rally in Sulu to show our full support to Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son and also to condemn their continued detention,” Gaifur Kanain, an aide of the mayor, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police implicated Isnaji in the June 8 Abu Sayyaf kidnapping of ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, and their guide Octavio Dinampo, a professor of the Mindanao State University.

Isnaji, one of seven candidates running for governor in the Muslim autonomous region in August, was selected by the Abu Sayyaf to negotiate for the release of the hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf freed the four hostages separately after reportedly collecting as much as P20 million ransoms. Police said P5 million was paid by Drilon’s family to the militant group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and that Isnaji pocketed allegedly P3 million.

Isnaji, the current chairman of the Sulu League of Municipalities, denied the accusations against him and his son. He is also a senior member of the MNLF's Central Committee which signed a peace agreement with Manila in 1996.

Before he became mayor, Isnaji was the Speaker of the Regional Legislative Assembly in the Muslim autonomous region and became also the acting regional governor in 2001.

He admitted paying several hundreds of thousands of pesos for the freedom of Drilon's group on top of a package of livelihood aids and infrastructure projects allegedly promised by Senator Loren Legarda, who helped in the negotiations.

The MNLF is also supporting Isnaji. “We are behind him and the government should free him immediately,” the group’s new chairman Muslimin Sema said.

Former MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari also has told the Department of Justice that Isnaji’s alias is “Laring-Laring,” a codename frequently heard by the hostages from the kidnappers during their captivity.

But Sema said Isnaji’s alias is Baguinda and not Laring-Laring. “Misuari is just getting back at Mayor Isnaji because he had lost support from among many leaders of the MNLF,” Sema said.

Isnaji was among senior MNLF leaders that composed the so-called Council of 15 which ousted Misuari in a coup in 2002.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, the head of the local crisis management committee, had repeatedly discouraged negotiators from paying ransom to the Abu Sayyaf because he said the money would likely be used to buy weapons and finance terrorism and more kidnappings in the island, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

Interior Secy. Ronaldo Puno said Isnaji and his son have been detained in Manila. The two were picked up in Zamboanga City after they accompanied Drilon's group on June 18.

Puno said the duo is being held on kidnapping charges. He tagged the group of Radulan Sahiron as behind the kidnapping of the four people who were intercepted in Maimbung town while on their way to secretly interview the Abu Sayyaf leader.

Police also implicated Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad, Gafur Jumdail, Umbra Jumdail, Tuan Walis and Sulayman Patta as among about 30 gunmen involved in the kidnappings.

The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and has offered rewards of up to $5 million for the capture of its known leaders. It also deployed a few hundred Marines and Special Forces soldiers in Sulu to help the Filipino military defeat the Abu Sayyaf. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Shell Militant Lairs In Southern Philippines

Government troops on board a convoy of trucks and armored carriers pass through a crowded village in Indanan town in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, where fighting Wednesday, April 30, 2008 breaks out in the village of Cagay between security and Abu Sayyaf forces, backed by renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front. At least one marine was wounded in the fighting that also left a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and injured. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 30, 2008) – Government forces clashed with militants in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, leaving one soldier wounded and a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and wounded, officials said.

Military choppers fired several rounds of rockets at strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf in the town of Indanan, aimed at weakening the militant group, but renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front aided the gunmen.

The human rights organization called Suara Bangsamoro said troops also fired canons around a major MNLF base in the village of Cagay, an area controlled by Khaid Ajibun, a senior leader of the former rebel group which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996.

It said dozens of civilians have fled the village because of the bombings. “At least 28 howitzer canons were fired to that area and after the bombardments ground troops mounted an attack, sparking a firefight,” Amirah Lidasan, the group’s leader told the Mindanao Examiner.

She said seven soldiers were either killed or wounded in the fighting, but the military said only one marine was injured in the clash.

The military said the fighting only involved the Abu Sayyaf and that the operation was aimed to arrest the leaders of the group tied with al-Qaeda and blamed for past bombings and kidnappings for money in the south.

“Troops clashed with the Abu Sayyaf group. The operation began at dawn Wednesday and targeted the lairs of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. We have reports the area is being used to manufacture IED (improvised explosive device),” Maj. Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said in a separate interview.

He tagged Abu Pula, alias Doctor Abu, as the leader of the group that soldiers clashed in Indanan town.

“The intelligence-driven operation is aimed to apprehend, neutralize, and bring to justice the remaining leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf, as well as the Jemaah Islamiya bombers, who forged alliances with the former in the name of terrorism and violence,” Batara said without identifying the Jemaah Islamiya bombers,” he said.

In Sulu, local military chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, said the offensive did not target the MNLF. “The operation is not against the Moro National Liberation Front. No way, this operation is meant against the MNLF. They are not our targets. We are primarily after the ASG and the JI,” he said.

“The ultimate reason of this operation is for the people to finally live in safety without the fear that they could be held captive at any time in any place,” Sabban said.

Sabban previously said the Abu Sayyaf is fragmented and is on the run because of sustained military operations in Sulu province. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Police Tightens Security Grip In Sulu Province

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 4, 008) – Police have tightened security in the southern Philippine province of Sulu following reports that Moro National Liberation Front forces were planning to launch a series of attacks against government targets.

Some 300 MNLF members have gathered in Talipao town and were said to be planning to attack military posts, police intelligence reports said.

“There were reports alright, but all these are subject to verification. One report suggested the MNLF is to attack military posts in Bayug village in Talipao, but so far there have been no attacks,” Superintendent Jul Asirim Kasim, the Sulu provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Kasim said they received reports from the villagers in Talipao town. He said MNLF leader Khabir Malik was supposed to lead the attack. “Some 300 MNLF members gathered in Talipao last week, but we do not know what was discussed during their meeting,” he said.

Inspector Usman Pingay, police chief of Jolo town and Superintendent Muhibuddin Ismail, chief of an elite provincial police force, said they have no reports about an impending attack. “It is peaceful in Jolo,” Pingay said.

Ismail said his group has not received reports about the planned attacks by gunmen loyal to jailed MNLF chieftain Nur Musuari. “We have no reports about it,” he said in a separate interview.

Other reports said the MNLF in Sulu has joined forces with the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and would attack police and military camps.

Misuari signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996 ending decades of bloody war. After the peace agreement was signed, Misuari became the governor of the Muslim autonomous region. But despite the accord, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak autonomy they were granted.

Under the peace agreement, Manila would provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards.

Many former guerrillas were disgruntled with the peace deal, saying, the Arroyo government failed to comply with some of its provisions and uplift their standards of living. They accused Manila of failing to develop the war-torn areas in the south.

And in November 2001, on the eve of the elections in the Muslim autonomous region, Misuari accused the government of reneging on the peace agreement, and launched a new rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed.

Misuari then escaped by boat to Malaysia, but had been arrested and deported to the Philippines. He is now under house arrest in Manila.

Earlier this year, the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), urged Manila to free Misuari.

The MILF wanted Misuari released from detention after six of his followers were freed in January this year. The MILF, a breakaway faction of the MNLF, is currently negotiating peace with the Arroyo government, but talks were stalled last year over the issue of the Muslim ancestral domain. (With a report from Nickee Butlangan)

Troops Foil New Bombing In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 26, 2007) – Government forces heightened security in Sulu province, south of Manila, after soldiers detonated a homemade bomb planted by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the bomb was left outside the Helen’s Lodge, a budget motel in Jolo town and detonated by soldiers Monday.

No group claimed responsibility for the foiled bombing, but government forces were put in red alert to thwart possible bombings during the holidays.

A homemade bomb exploded on Monday outside a barber shop in Cotabato City, wounding three people.

It was unknown if the attack was connected to the foiled bombing in Sulu, where security forces are pursuing Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996.

But three civilians and a soldier were also killed in fighting over the weekend in Sulu’s Kalingalan Caluang town between military and rebel forces. At least 17 people, including five soldiers were also wounded in the clash on Saturday in the village of Pangdan-pangdan.

Fighting also erupted last month in Kalingalan Caluang town that left eight soldiers and four rebels dead.

The Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for past attacks and kidnappings-for-money in the southern Philippines, while the MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, but many were disgruntled with the accord and joined other rebel groups.

The MNLF has repeatedly accused the government of reneging on the agreement, which Manila strongly denied. Under the peace deal, the Philippine would have provided a mini-Marshall plan and livelihoods and housing to tens of thousands of rebels.

In 2001, MNLF gunmen, who were loyal supporters of Nur Misuari, attacked and tried to capture a major military base in Sulu province and another group seized more than 100 people in Zamboanga City.

After the attacks, MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari fled to Sabah by boat, but was captured by Malaysian authorities and eventually deported to the Philippines. (Nickee Butlangan)

3 Muslims Killed In Sulu Fighting

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 23, 2007) – Three civilians were killed and eight more wounded after soldiers and rebels clashed fiercely on a remote village in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.

Fighting broke out on Saturday in the village of Pangdan-pangdan in Kalingalan Caluang town where a marine soldier was also killed and five others, including four civilians, were wounded.

The civilian casualties were only reported Sunday after troops took control of the village where rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror network, used as temporary encampment.

Soldiers raided the village after civilians tipped off the military about the presence of dozens of gunmen.

On Sunday, security forces launched fresh operation to hunt down the rebels who split into smaller groups in the town’s jungle.

Although there were no new reports of fighting, troops have put up road blocks near the town to prevent the entry of weapons or enemy reinforcements.

“The operation is ongoing,” said Major General Reuben Rafael, commander of military forces on the province, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes for fear that rebels would take them hostage or used civilians as shield against pursuing soldiers.

Rafael said the rebels used villagers to shield them from military assault, but retreating gunmen also shot several civilians who tried to flee.

Soldiers recovered seven automatic rifles and ammunition in the village left behind by rebels under Commanders Opagu and Alawi, whose first names were not immediately known, but both were sub-leaders of the MNLF renegade faction and Abu Sayyaf.

Fighting also erupted last month in Kalingalan Caluang that left eight soldiers and four rebels dead.

The Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for past attacks and kidnappings-for-money in the southern Philippines, while the MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, but many were disgruntled with the accord and joined other rebel groups.

The MNLF has repeatedly accused the government of reneging on the agreement, which Manila strongly denied. Under the peace deal, the Philippine would have provided a mini-Marshall plan and livelihoods and housing to tens of thousands of rebels.

In 2001, MNLF gunmen, who were loyal supporters of Nur Misuari, attacked and tried to capture a major military base in Sulu province and another group seized more than 100 people in Zamboanga City.

After the attacks, MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari fled to Sabah by boat, but was captured by Malaysian authorities and eventually deported to the Philippines. (Nickee Butlangan)

Fighting Erupts In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 22, 2007) – Fierce clashes between government soldiers and rebels erupted Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, leaving a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and wounded, officials said.

Officials said one soldier was killed and another wounded in the fighting that broke out in the village called Pangdan-pangdan in Kalingalan Caluang town.

Four civilians were also wounded in the clash, said Army Major General Reuben Rafael, commander of military forces on the province.

“We still do not know how many rebels were killed or injured, but intercepted radio messages suggested more casualties on the rebel side,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said troops clashed with rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front, backed by Abu Sayyaf militants, whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror network.

The fighting lasted for several hours with government planes bombing rebel positions in the town’s hinterland. But clashes on the ground were much more difficult as rebels fleeing pursuing soldiers snatched villagers and used them as shield.

It was unknown whether some villagers were abducted by retreating rebels, but General Rafael has confirmed that four civilians were shot and wounded by gunmen as they escaped.

The four civilians, he said, were rushed to a military hospital after soldiers rescued them during a running gun battle.

Soldiers recovered seven automatic rifles and ammunition in the village left behind by rebels under Commanders Opagu and Alawi, whose first names were not immediately known, but both were sub-leaders of the MNLF renegade faction and Abu Sayyaf.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has ordered policemen and soldiers to secure the villagers and bring them to safer areas far from the fighting.

Fighting also erupted last month in Kalingalan Caluang that left 8 soldiers and four rebels dead.
The Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for past attacks and kidnappings-for-money in the southern Philippines, while the MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, but many were disgruntled with the accord and joined other rebel groups.

The MNLF has repeatedly accused the government of reneging on the agreement, which Manila strongly denied. Under the peace deal, the Philippine would have provided a mini-Marshall plan and livelihoods and housing to tens of thousands of rebels.

In 2001, MNLF gunmen, who were loyal supporters of Nur Misuari, attacked and tried to capture a major military base in Sulu province and another group seized more than 100 people in Zamboanga City.

After the attacks, MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari fled to Sabah by boat, but was captured by Malaysian authorities and eventually deported to the Philippines. (With a report from Nickee Butlangan)

RP Troops Hunt Down Militants

Coffins of slain marines inside the Philippine Navy base in Zamboanga City on Saturday, Dec. 01, 2007. And Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. pins medals to wounded soldiers. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 01, 2007) – Philippine troops on Saturday mounted fresh operations to flush out suspected Jemaah Islamiya militants and rebels blamed for the killing of five marines in the southern province of Sulu.

Four gunmen were killed in Friday’s fighting that left at least eight soldiers wounded in the town of Kalingalan Caluang, said Maj. Gen. Reuben Rafael, chief of military forces in Sulu.

“There is an ongoing operation and we are tracking down the terrorists,” Rafael told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from a forward base near the town.

In Zamboanga City, Marines Maj. Gen. Nelson Allaga, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said security forces were pursuing Jemaah Islamiya and Abu Sayyaf militants and a faction of the Moro National Liberation front which he blamed for the death of the six soldiers.

“Our troops encountered rogue MNLF members, backed by JI and Abu Sayyaf and they are now the object of our operations,” Allaga said a news conference Saturday.

The military previously said that Jemaah Islamiya terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombing, are hiding in the province and being sheltered by the Abu Sayyaf and rogue MNLF members under Khabier Malik.

Allaga said aside from Dulmatin and Patek, other Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya terrorists, were involved in the clash. “We have reports about this,” he said without elaborating further.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. also arrived in Zamboanga City and visited the wounded soldiers at a hospital inside the base. “I was briefed about the operation in Sulu and there is an operation right now,” he said.

Teodoro spoke with the families of the slain marines at a Catholic chapel inside a naval base here where the coffins of the soldiers were put for viewing.

He also inspected troops in Basilan province before flying back to Manila later in the day. (Mindanao Examiner)

Misuari Aide, Companion Killed in South RP Ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 19, 2007)– Unidentified gunmen ambushed Friday a former Muslim rebel leader and his companion in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said.

Police said Jamasali Abdurahman, a special spokesman for jailed Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chieftain Nur Misuari, was attacked while walking in the village of Buanza in Indanan town at around 6.40 a.m. His unidentified companion was also killed.

“We are still investigating the ambush. Jamasali and his companion were killed in the attack,” Superintendent Ahiron Ajirim, the provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the town is a known stronghold of the MNLF.

Abdurahman, a native of Sulu province, ran for Congress in May, but lost.

He helped secure the release of 21 Asian and Western holidaymakers kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in Malaysia’s island-resort of Sipadan in 2000.

Before he was killed, Abdurahman was also providing information to the Philippine military about the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants who have huge bounties on their heads.

Abdurahman was also with the group of MNLF members who held hostage Marine Major General Mohammad Dolorfino and Defense officials and soldiers early this year in Sulu to force Manila to free Misuari.

A known MNLF propagandist, Abdurahman became Interior Secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after Misuari was elected as regional governor in 1996, the same year the rebel group signed a peace deal with Manila.

Misuari is currently in jail on rebellion charges after his forces tried, but failed to overrun a military base on the island in 2000. Misuari, disgusted with the peace agreement, fled to Malaysia, but was arrested there and later deported to Manila.

He accused Manila of reneging in the peace deal and for failing to uplift the poor living standards of many Muslims in the South. Under the agreement, the Philippines is to provide a mini-marshal plan and housing and livelihood to tens of thousands of former MNLF rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Clash With MNLF Rebels In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 09, 2007) – Troops clashed with suspected Moro National Liberation Front forces in the southern Philippines, killing one gunman, the military said on Tuesday.

The fighting erupted near the town of Talipao in Sulu province after patrolling soldiers ran into a group of an MNLF faction.

The military was verifying intelligence reports that the slain gunman allegedly belonged to the Abu Sayyaf, a small but the most violent insurgent group blamed for the spate of bombings and kidnappings in the southern region.

Initial military reports said the gunmen were rogue members of the MNLF.

The MNLF signed a peace deal with the Philippine government in September 1996, but despite the accord many former rebels who were disgruntled with the slow progress and development of Mindanao attacked troops in Sulu.

Its chieftain, Nur Misuari, is currently in jail on rebellion charges after his forces tried, but failed to overrun a military base in the province in 2000. (Mindanao Examiner)