ZAMBOANGA CITY, 8 August 2003 — Soldiers in the southern Philippines yesterday shot dead one of two Abu Sayyaf rebels who escaped with Jemaah Islamiah bombmaker Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, officials said.
Abdulmukin Edris was killed hours after troops captured him and a leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on a military checkpoint in the province of Lanao del Norte, said Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko.
Kyamko said the MILF leader Mahmood Ismael was also gunned down. The duo were leading troops to the supposed hideout of Al-Ghozi in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town when they allegedly tried to grab the rifles of their escorts.
“There was commotion because the tried to grab the rifles of the soldiers and they were shot dead,” Kyamko told a radio station DZRH in Manila yesterday night. Kyamko did not say why Edris and Ismael were not handcuffed.
President Arroyo said she wanted Edris captured alive so he can be investigated on how they were able to escape from prison.
A military official based in Zamboanga City said the Philippine Army in Lanao del Norte was not informed about the operation against Edris. “It was purely a Southern Command operation,” the official said without elaborating.
Edris and Al-Ghozi and another Abu Sayyaf rebel Opik Kasak have mysteriously escaped last month from a high-security police prison facility in Manila.
A shadowy man claiming to be an Abu Sayyaf leader has boasted that certain police officials were paid 10 million pesos for the escape of Al-Ghozi. “We suspect that Edris and his companion tried to smuggle Al-Ghozi out of the province. There is an ongoing operation there and soldiers are tracking down Al-Ghozie and we are optimistic that we’re gonna get him,” he said.
