ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 March 2006 — Security forces have captured yesterday an Abu Sayyaf leader allegedly involved in the kidnapping and killing of several hostages in the southern Philippines five years ago.
Officials said Burham Sali, also known as Commander Abu Sanny, was cornered in an early morning raid by soldiers and policemen on a “terrorist hideout” in the village of Facoma in Parang town, Maguindanao province.
Maj. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, the commander of the army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao, said security forces raided the hideout after a weeklong surveillance.
“The arrest of Sali is part of our continuing operation against the terrorists. Let this be a warning to the others that there is no escape from the long arm of the law,” Dema-ala said.
The military linked Sali, who is facing a string of kidnapping and murder charges, to the killing of Kansas missionary Martin Burham and California man Guillermo Sobero and several Filipino hostages in Basilan island.
“Sali was also involved in the kidnapping of dozens of teachers and school children in Basilan in 2001. He will have to pay for all the crimes he committed,” Dema-ala told Arab News.
Many of those kidnapped, including a Catholic priest Roel Gallardo, were tortured and beheaded, and the women raped by their captors, a military dossier on Sali’s group said.
Sobero, Burham and his wife Gracia and 17 other Filipino holiday-makers were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group on May 2001 and brought their hostages to Basilan island.
Sobero was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf and a year later Martin Burnham died in a US-led military rescue while his wife was wounded.
Sali was said to have escaped a massive military operation in Basilan in 2002 and hid in Central Mindanao.
It was not immediately known if Sali had been in contact with other Abu Sayyaf leaders in Maguindanao or with Jemaah Islamiyah militants, blamed for the spate of bombings in the region and as far as Manila.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation last week included the leader of the Abu Sayyaf, Khadaffy Janjalani and two of his senior lieutenants, Isnilon Totoni Hapilon and Jainal Antel Sali Jr., in the bureau’s Most Wanted Terrorists list.
The FBI said the terrorists are being sought for their alleged involvement in various attacks or planned attacks around the world. Hanno was suspected of taking part in the abduction of Sobero and the Burham couple.
The US government has put out rewards for the capture of Janjalani and his cohorts.
