Troops searching for kidnapped Japanese clash with Sayyaf in the Philippines

Sulu police chief Elmer Escosia holds the passport of a kidnapped Japanese, Toshio Ito, which was recovered in Pangutaran Island in the Sulu archipelago where gunmen seized the Hiroshima native on July 16, 2010. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 26, 2010) – Philippine soldiers searching for a kidnapped Japanese man in the Sulu archipelago clashed Monday with Abu Sayyaf militants in the town of Patikul, officials said.

Officials were also investigating whether the militants were involved in the kidnapping of Toshio Ito, 63, who was captured by gunmen on July 16 in the town of Pangutaran.

“We have no reports of casualties, but troops are still in the area and searching for the kidnapped Japanese,” said Marine Brigadier General Rustico Guerrero, commander of military forces in Sulu.

He said troops were tracking down Ito on the town when they clashed with a band of Abu Sayyaf fighters. The fighting erupted a day after security forces arrested an alleged Abu Sayyaf member – Mustakin - in Zamboanga City while awaiting for a ferry bound for Malaysia.

Authorities accused Mustakin as behind previous kidnappings in Sulu, but it was unknown whether he had a hand or involved in Ito’s disappearance.

Police last week said it recovered a letter allegedly sent by Ito, but details of its contents were not made public. It said Ito’s passport was also recovered by the police in Pangutaran town and had contacted the Japanese embassy in Manila about this.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Ito, a native of Hiroshima who moved to Pangutaran in 2004 where he established a pharmacy and a gravel business. Police said Ito is also a treasure hunter.

He previously lived in Marawi and Zamboanga cities and had a pending court case in the town of Plaridel in Misamis Occidental province where he is facing charges of trespass to dwelling.

Authorities were suspecting Abu Sayyaf militants with links to Jemaah Islamiya could be behind the kidnapping.

The Abu Sayyaf last year kidnapped three international Red Cross workers – Two European and a Filipino – in Sulu and had been ransomed off. The group was also behind high-profile kidnapping cases; including 21 mostly Westerners in Malaysia’s Sipadan Island in 2000 and three US citizens in 2001 in Dos Palmas resort in Palawan Island in the Philippines.

Police earlier said it put up a task force that will handle the investigation of the kidnapping under supervision of the crisis committee headed by Mayor Amilhamja Taib, of Pangutaran Island. (Mindanao Examiner)

Kidnapped Chinese trader in RP rescued after 19 months in Sayyaf captivity

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 6, 2010) – Police rescued a kidnapped Chinese trader after more than 19 months in Abu Sayyaf captivity in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, officials said Tuesday.

Xili Wu alias Peter Go, a native of Fujian province, was rescued late Monday after commandos clashed with militants in the town of Luuk, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf who has links with Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaeda terror organizations, television reports quoting Senior Superintendent Elmer Escosia, the commander of police forces in Sulu, said.

Reports also quoted Escosia as saying that police clashed with the kidnappers in Lambago village at around 8.30 p.m. But attempts by other journalists to get more details about the rescue of Xili were rejected by Escosia for a still unknown reason.

But another police official confirmed that Xili was rescued by commandos and that the foreigner would be brought to Zamboanga City after authorities get information from the Chinese man about his captors led by Commander Saji.

Xili, one of five owners of an appliances store Perlas Trading in Jolo town, was kidnapped in December 2008 by militants. It was then that police discovered that Xili, 28-years old when kidnapped, is a Chinese citizen and so were his four other associates who all assumed Filipino names to be able to secure a business license and operate the store in Jolo.

Xili’s group had lived in Jolo since early 2008. His four business partners fled Jolo weeks after the kidnapping. Police had previously tagged Albader Parad for the kidnapping. Parad’s group originally demanded P25 million ransoms, but lowered this to P10 million for Xili’s safe release.

Parad - tagged as the mastermind of the kidnappings of three international Red Cross workers in Sulu in 2009 and behind for deadly terrorist attacks in the province - was one of six Abu Sayyaf leaders killed in military operations in February this year.

The Abu Sayyaf, which the police and military claimed has more than 300 gunmen, has been blamed for a string of high-profile kidnappings for ransom, including of Americans and Europeans. It's on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations with links to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)