ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 19, 2010) – Philippine authorities arrested a wanted Abu Sayyaf militant accused of kidnapping three US citizens and 17 Filipino tourists at a posh resort nine years ago.
Security officials said Jumadali Arad was arrested late Thursday afternoon while trying to board a passenger ship bound for Zamboanga City.
Arad was among those who raided the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province near central Philippines in 2001 and kidnapped US missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and California man Guillermo Sobero and the Filipinos, and brought them to Basilan province, south of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.
Guillermo Sobero was beheaded in 2001 in Basilan while Martin Burnham was shot and killed in 2002 during a US-led military rescue operation in Mindanao. Gracia Burnham was also shot and wounded during the rescue operation.
“The arrest of Arad is part of the military’s continuing operation against terrorism,” said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman.
The Abu Sayyaf, which means “bearer of the sword, has been linked to many kidnappings of foreigners and terrorism in the southern Philippines and was linked by authorities to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden and the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
Showing posts with label Martin Burnham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martin Burnham. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sayyaf terror man linked to kidnap-slay of 2 Americans falls
Friday, January 04, 2008
Sayyaf Leader Captured In Southern Philippines
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 05, 2008) – Security forces captured a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf group implicated in the 2001 kidnapping of three US citizens in the Philippines, officials said on Friday.
Officials said government agents, backed by soldiers and policemen, captured Tuatin Anahalul alias Abu Basilan in a raid on an Abu Sayyaf hideout Thursday afternoon on the island of Margo sa Tubig in Zamboanga del Sur province.
“The terrorist leader is still being interrogated. He is one of those involved in the Dos Palmas kidnapping and Lamitan siege,” Army Major Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Batara was referring to the Abu Sayyaf raid on the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in central Philippines where militants snatched Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Californian Guillermo Sobero and 17 Filipino holidaymakers and brought them by boat to Basilan island.
And the Abu Sayyaf raid on Lamitan town in Basilan where the militants took over a private hospital and held more than 100 people and escaping four days later after battling government soldiers.
He said informants tipped off the military about the presence of Anahalul, who is long wanted by authorities.
“Civilian informants provided vital intelligence about the subject and his capture is a good start this year in our anti-terrorism campaign. We will not relent in our operation to track down and arrest terrorists and this is the order of General Nelson Allaga,” Batara said.
Allaga is the chief of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City. Last month, security forces also raided an Abu Sayyaf hideout in Zamboanga City and captured two militants also implicated in the Dos Palmas kidnapping.
In November, government soldiers nabbed Abu Sayyaf militant, Teteng Mandangan, said to be involved also in the same kidnappings in the southern Tawi-Tawi province.
The Abu Sayyaf beheaded Sobero in Basilan province a month after the kidnapping while Martin Burnham was shot and killed the next year in a US-led military rescue operation in nearby Zamboanga del Norte province.
Gracia Burnham was rescued by Filipino troops, but she was also wounded. Some of the Filipino hostages were also killed and wounded by the Abu Sayyaf during their captivity.
The Burnham couple was celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary party on May 27, 2001 at Dos Palmas when the Abu Sayyaf attacked the resort.
Since her rescue, Gracia Burnham has written two books, 'In the Presence of My Enemies' and 'To Fly Again' and now works as a popular church speaker. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, November 26, 2007
RP Troops Capture Sayyaf Man Linked To Dos Palmas Raid
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 27, 2007) – Philippine soldiers captured a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant, linked to the kidnapping of three US citizens, on a town in the southern Tawi-Tawi province, the military said.
Teteng Mandangan was captured in Bonggao town last week, but his arrest was only announced by the military on Monday after a week-long interrogation.
Mandangan has been implicated in the 2001 kidnapping of California man Guillermo Sobero and Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham along with 17 other Filipino holiday-makers at the posh Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine province of Palawan.
The Abu Sayyaf beheaded Sobero in Basilan island a month after the kidnapping while Martin Burnham was shot and killed the next year in a US-led military rescue operation in nearby Zamboanga del Norte province.
Gracia Burnham was rescued by Filipino troops, but she was also wounded. Some of the Filipino hostages were also killed and wounded by the Abu Sayyaf during their captivity.
The Burnham couple was celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary party on May 27, 2001 at Dos Palmas when the Abu Sayyaf attacked the resort.
Since her rescue, Gracia Burnham has written two books, 'In the Presence of My Enemies' and 'To Fly Again' and now works a popular church speaker. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Jihadists In Paradise: The Untold Story
ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE (Mindanao Examiner / 17 Feb) – Finally, the untold story of how a top leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, who held hostage three U.S. citizens, was tracked down by the CIA and eventually killed.
The Pirates of the Caribbean team of Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming up once again to bring the “Jihadists in Paradise.”
“A kidnapping at a Philippine resort triggered a yearlong hunt for pirate terrorists and their American hostages. A behind-the-scenes tale of intrigue, spycraft, and betrayal,” wrote author, Mark Bowden, in his opening piece on his story Jihadists in Paradise posted on the Atlantic Monthly website.
Disney and Bruckheimer have bought the rights to make a movie based on Jihadists in Paradise, an article by Bowden from the March issue of Atlantic Monthly.
Bowden has a number of books and articles being developed into Hollywood films and box office hit “Black Hawk Down” is his biggest film to date. The deal will also see Bruckheimer re-team with Bowden, as the two worked together on Black Hawk Down.
A review of the Jihadists in Paradise details the emergence in the Philippines of the Abu Sayyaf and one of its leaders, Aldam Tilao alias Abu Sabaya.
Tilao, born on Basilan island and studied in Zamboanga City, put his group on the map by sneaking by boat into the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in the central Philippines and took 20 Filipino hostages, including California man Guillermo Sobero and Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Tilao and his group beheaded Sobero and left his body eaten by wild animals in Basilan island and dragged the Burnham couple and other hostages across the jungles for a year and a half until he was eventually tracked down and killed after a long search by the CIA and Filipino military forces.
Martin Burnham was shot and killed and his wife wounded during the U.S.-led rescue operation.The Philippine military have repeatedly denied U.S. involvement in the rescue of the hostages.
A video of the operation taken by a U.S. spy plane was shown to senior Filipino military commanders who likened the black and white footage to a Hollywood espionage movie. The video was taken using a thermal camera.
The website of the Atlantic Monthly posted a purported CIA video of the operation in the southern Philippines on this URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/movies/bowden/surveillance-9.mhtml.
It showed 6 black figures, believed to be Tilao and his group, walking to a waiting speedboat -- guarded by another figure - under the cover of darkness.The Philippine military said Filipino soldiers onboard several boats attacked Tilao’s group while trying to escape a remote coastal village in Zamboanga del Norte province.
Tilao had admitted responsibility in the murder of a local radio reporter, Candelario “Jun” Cayona, who was repeatedly shot in the head and chest by a gunman while on his way to work in Zamboanga City in May 30, 2001. (Mindanao Examiner)
The Pirates of the Caribbean team of Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming up once again to bring the “Jihadists in Paradise.”
“A kidnapping at a Philippine resort triggered a yearlong hunt for pirate terrorists and their American hostages. A behind-the-scenes tale of intrigue, spycraft, and betrayal,” wrote author, Mark Bowden, in his opening piece on his story Jihadists in Paradise posted on the Atlantic Monthly website.
Disney and Bruckheimer have bought the rights to make a movie based on Jihadists in Paradise, an article by Bowden from the March issue of Atlantic Monthly.
Bowden has a number of books and articles being developed into Hollywood films and box office hit “Black Hawk Down” is his biggest film to date. The deal will also see Bruckheimer re-team with Bowden, as the two worked together on Black Hawk Down.
A review of the Jihadists in Paradise details the emergence in the Philippines of the Abu Sayyaf and one of its leaders, Aldam Tilao alias Abu Sabaya.
Tilao, born on Basilan island and studied in Zamboanga City, put his group on the map by sneaking by boat into the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in the central Philippines and took 20 Filipino hostages, including California man Guillermo Sobero and Kansas missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Tilao and his group beheaded Sobero and left his body eaten by wild animals in Basilan island and dragged the Burnham couple and other hostages across the jungles for a year and a half until he was eventually tracked down and killed after a long search by the CIA and Filipino military forces.
Martin Burnham was shot and killed and his wife wounded during the U.S.-led rescue operation.The Philippine military have repeatedly denied U.S. involvement in the rescue of the hostages.
A video of the operation taken by a U.S. spy plane was shown to senior Filipino military commanders who likened the black and white footage to a Hollywood espionage movie. The video was taken using a thermal camera.
The website of the Atlantic Monthly posted a purported CIA video of the operation in the southern Philippines on this URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/movies/bowden/surveillance-9.mhtml.
It showed 6 black figures, believed to be Tilao and his group, walking to a waiting speedboat -- guarded by another figure - under the cover of darkness.The Philippine military said Filipino soldiers onboard several boats attacked Tilao’s group while trying to escape a remote coastal village in Zamboanga del Norte province.
Tilao had admitted responsibility in the murder of a local radio reporter, Candelario “Jun” Cayona, who was repeatedly shot in the head and chest by a gunman while on his way to work in Zamboanga City in May 30, 2001. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 20, 2006
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.
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)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)