ZAMBOANGA CITY, 6 November 2005 — Security forces captured yesterday a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said police and military captured Radulan Sahiron, wanted both by the Philippines and United States for the series of terrorism and kidnappings in the region.
Security officials did not say where Sahiron was arrested, but previous military reports claimed the one-armed Abu Sayyaf leader was hiding in the southern island of Jolo.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo lauded security forces for arresting Sahiron, who has a five-million-peso bounty for his capture.
“I would like to commend our police and soldiers because at 4:30 p.m. they caught the notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, who has five million pesos on his head,’’ the president said on government television station NBN 4.
“This intelligence project has been on for a long time, from way back to the time of Secretary Eduardo Ermita who was then Defense Secretary. Now he (Sahiron) is caught, congratulations to police Col. Mendoza,” she said.
Arroyo was referring to Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza, deputy director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who led the arresting team.
“His capture serves as a big boost to our drive against terrorism... We hope ASG leader Khadaffy Janjalani is the next to fall in government hands,” said Armed Forces spokesman Col. Tristan Kison.
The military tagged Sahiron as behind the series of attacks and killings in Jolo island, including the kidnappings of 21 mostly Asian and Western holiday-makers in a raid on the island resort of Sipadan off Sabah, Malaysia in 2001.
His group was also implicated in the kidnappings of three Hong Kong and a Malaysian fishery workers off Jolo in 1998 and dozens of Filipino missionaries on the island.
Manila offered 5 million pesos for his capture and Washington put up a bounty of as much as 5 million dollars on his head.
Security officials described Sahiron as a notorious Abu Sayyaf leader who travels in Jolo’s dense jungle on a horse, a rifle on his side and a pistol on the other.
Locals call him Robin Hood because he often distributes shares of his loot to civilian supporters in Jolo.
But for security officials, Sahiron was Satan himself.
He allegedly chopped off heads of soldiers captured in battle and decapitated civilians suspected of aiding the military in its anti-insurgency operations in Jolo.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as foreign terrorist organization and offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for recent terrorist attacks in the country including the Superferry bombing off Manila Bay in February 2004 and the Valentine’s Day bombings earlier this year.
The two attacks left over a hundred killed and scores injured.
Authorities have yet to arrest Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who is reportedly on the run in Central Mindanao.
