ZAMBOANGA CITY, 31 January 2007 — Encouraged by the success of its reward program for the elimination of some of the top militants in the country, the United States yesterday offered up to $50,000 bounty for the capture of a top suspect in recent bomb blasts in the southern Philippines.
Abdul Basit Usman is tied with the Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, and had a hand in a series of recent bombings in the main southern island of Mindanao region, the US Embassy said yesterday.
“It is time to bring this despicable terrorist to justice,” the US Embassy said in a statement announcing the bounty.
Among the blasts blamed on Usman was an Oct. 10 bombing that killed eight people and wounded 28 others during a fiesta celebration in Makilala town in North Cotabato province.
He also was charged in another bombing that day that wounded four people in a crowded public market in nearby Tacurong City.
Chief Superintendent German Doria, a regional police chief, said Usmanalso carried out bombings with Abu Sayyaf militants in the past.
Police captured Usman in 2002 for a bomb attack that killed 15 people and wounded 100 others in the southern port city of General Santos, but he escaped from jail, Doria said.
Local authorities have previously linked Usman to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group currently negotiating peace with Manila.
But the MILF has repeatedly denied the allegation and ordered rebel forces to hunt down Usman and bring him to justice.
“Abdul Basit Usman is not a member of the MILF. Our forces are under orders to help Philippine authorities to hunt him down,” Kabalu told the Arab News by phone from a rebel base in central Mindanao.
Kabalu said the bounty offered by Washington only proves that Usman is a dangerous man.
“This really proves that Usman is a very dangerous man. The bounty offered by the United States will add more credibility in its anti-terrorism campaign in the Philippines and Southeast Asia,” he said.
Kabalu said the MILF would continue to help Philippine authorities track down terrorists even without financial reward.
“Money is not all that important to us. What’s important to us is to bring peace and stability to Mindanao,” he said.
The US government, along with the European Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and other countries are supporting the peace process between Manila and the MILF, promising to help bankroll development projects for Mindanao once a peace accord is signed.
But the US and Philippine governments have jointly offered huge bounties for the capture of others linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah, particularly those tagged in the series of kidnappings and beheadings in the islands of Jolo and Basilan.
The US promised a reward of up to $5 million each for Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who was slain in a September clash on Jolo, and his presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, killed also on Jolo this month.
Police charged 10 MILF members, including Usman and a rebel leader Wahid Tundok for the Jan. 5 and Jan. 10 bombings in Cotabato City that killed one Muslim man.
“Usman and Tundok are both included in the charge sheet, along with eight other suspected bombers,” Cotabato City police spokesman Inspector Waves Kasuyo said in a separate interview.
The MILF, however, denied that Tundok was involved in the bombings in the southern Philippines. “Our doors are open for any investigation. We have no links with any terrorist groups and are sincere with the peace talks,” Kabalu said.
The US Embassy in Manila said the identity of any individuals providing information about Usman will remain strictly confidential.
The MILF also denied that Tundok was involved in the bombings in the southern Philippines. “Our doors are open for any investigation. We have no links with any terrorist groups and are sincere with the peace talks,” Kabalu said.
Aid for Refugees
Meanwhile, Aid workers began a grueling task yesterday of helping thousands of mostly Muslim refugees who fled their homes after fighting broke out between MILF rebels and security forces in North Cotabato last week.
Both sides agreed to stop fighting returned to their bases, army officials said.
“It is all silent now. The fighting finally stopped and we are helping refugees return to their homes.” The spokesman of the army’s 6th Infantry Division, Col. Julieto Ando, said.
Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon ordered troops to halt attacks against MILF forces after fighting broke out Friday and continued sporadically over the weekend.
But tension remained high in Midsayap town where the fighting killed at least 2 people and wounded two more.
Thousands of civilians, afraid they would be caught in the cross fire, abandoned their homes in at least 5 villages. Red Cross and Red Crescent workers and volunteers arrived in the town but officials said more help is needed for tens of thousands of people now in temporary shelters.
Mohager Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, said the fighting broke out after armed militias and Christian landowners tried to drive away local Muslim villagers, some of them members of the MILF, who owned lands in the area.
Iqbal said the soldiers sided with the militias and attacked rebel forces, sparking sporadic, but fierce clashes.
Government planes and combat helicopters and ground forces assaulted rebel strongholds on Saturday, saying some MILF fighters were attacking Christian farmers and army-led militias in the province.
The Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) is investigating the latest violation of a truce agreed upon by both sides in 2002. (With a report from The Associated Press)
