Posted on 06/21/2002 6:47:35 AM PDT by Tai_Chung
ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) - Senior Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya, responsible for the kidnapping of three Americans and numerous Filipinos, was killed in a clash with the Philippine military before dawn on Friday, military sources said.
Sabaya was one of three members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group who were slain by elite naval troops in a clash in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte, said the military sources, who did not want to be identified.
A military spokesman confirmed that three Abu Sayyaf members were killed but would not yet officially comment on whether Abu Sabaya was among them.
A seven-man Abu Sayyaf band was trying to board a boat on the coast of Sibuco town in neighbouring Zamboanga del Norte province when the clash occurred.
The US government had offered a reward of as much as US$5 million (S$9 million) for information leading to the capture of Abu Sabaya and four other key Abu Sayyaf leaders.
The Philippine government last year put up a five-million-peso (S$186,000) bounty on the head of Abu Sayyaf leader Commander Robot as well as Abu Sabaya and Khadaffy Janjalani, brother of the group's slain founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani.
Abu Sabaya, the most high-profile Abu Sayyaf leader and a spokesman for the group, had been holding Americans Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap in the jungles of Zamboanga del Norte for more than a year until earlier this month.
A military rescue operation on June 7 recovered Gracia Burnham but Martin Burnham and Yap were slain in the fighting.
Since then, with no more hostages to shield them, Sabaya's Abu Sayyaf band has been the target of an intensified military pursuit
This leaflet, which bears recent photographs of Abu Sabaya and the reward money of five million pesos (US$100,000), was issued last September by the Philippine military
Did Allah tell you
The seventy virgins
Had to be female?
The Indian is rather glum and says "Once my people were many, but now we are few."
The Muslim puffs up and says "Once my poeple were few, but now we are many millions."
The Texan adjusts his hat, finishes rolling a smoke, leans back in his chair and drawls, "That's cause we ain't played Cowboys and Muslims yet."
I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. Navy SEALS knocked him off.
Me: "OK -- He's dead. Good!!"
My thoughts exactly.
Military: Abu Sayyaf leader wounded in clash, jumps into sea
By Roland Ramos, Correspondent and John Concepcion, Reporter
ABU Sabaya, an elusive leader of the Abu Sayyaf who carries a $5-million reward on his head, was believed killed in a sea clash with troops yesterday, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
In a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Reyes said Sabaya was with a group of seven Abu Sayyaf men in a pumpboat that was intercepted by elite Navy troops in the waters a kilometer off Mantibo Point in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.
Sabaya was wounded in the encounter and jumped off the boat with three of his men, Reyes said.
The four other Abu Sayyaf members were captured and identified as Hasan Hamsi alias Abu Ayob; Abdurakman Ismael alias Abu Saharin; Adzmar Aluk alias Abu Adzmar; and Margani Isnilon alias Abu Nadim.
The four confirmed that Sabaya, Ibno Hajir and Abu Musa were hit by government bullets and jumped overboard.
“The Navy is still scouring the area for the bo-dies of these three individuals. No bodies have been fished out of the sea yet,” Reyes said.
But the confirmation of the four captured Abu Sayyaf men and the testimony given by members of the Navy’s Special Warfare Group (SWAG) indicate that Sabaya may have been killed, he said.
“Chances are, they were killed,” said Reyes.
Reyes said members of the SWAG team reported that Sabaya, Hajir and Musa took “fatal” hits. The government troops, he said, were wearing night-vision goggles.
Earlier yesterday, President Macapagal-Arroyo went on nationwide radio to announce the encounter and the shooting of Sabaya.
She said the four captured Abu Sayyaf men described Sabaya as wearing a black sweatshirt and the troops “confirmed shooting the man in the black sweatshirt.”
Sabaya is the chief spokesman and publicly the most prominent leader of the Abu Sayyaf.
The group is led by the reclusive Khadaffy Janjalani, the brother of founder Abdurajak Janjalani who was killed by troops in 1998.
Two weeks ago, US missionary Martin Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last year, were killed in a gunfight between the bandits and troops in Zamboanga del Norte. Burnham’s wife, Gracia, was wounded in the leg but was rescued in the fighting.
Military officials said yesterday’s encounter took place at about 4:20 a.m. The site is about three to four hours from Piakan, Sirawai, where the June 7 clash occurred.
The vessel sank during the exchange of fire.
National Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Melchor Rosales told a radio station Navy divers “are still trying to fish the bodies from the water. It is 21 fathoms (38 meters) deep.”
Military officials said none of the troops were hurt.
“We cannot confirm that he (Sabaya) is dead because our divers are still looking for the bodies,” Presidential Adviser for Mindanao affairs Jesus Dureza said. In the most recent kidnapping linked to the Abu Sayyaf, four Indonesians were taken captive on Monday from a Cebu-bound tugboat while it was towing a barge off Basilan.
One of the four escaped on Wednesday and identified the gunmen as members of the Abu Sayyaf and said one of the kidnappers was Hamsiraji Sali, ano-ther Abu Sayyaf commander with the $5-million reward on his head. Early on Friday, a US C-130 aircraft began an airdrop of leaflets featuring names and picture of the most wanted Abu Sayyaf men in areas believed to be the rebels’ strongholds — Jolo island, the Zamboanga peninsula and Tawi-Tawi island.
About 1,000 US troops, including special forces as well as military engineers building roads and airstrips, have been in Basilan since February to train Philippine troops in the battle against the Abu Sayyaf.
Both US and Philippine officials said US troops were not directly involved in yesterday’s encounter.
On Monday, US troops exchanged fire in self defense with Abu Sayyaf members for the first time since the joint exercises began. No one was hurt. The Pentagon has approved a plan to send American troops deeper into the jungles to accompany Philippine soldiers battling the Abu Sayyaf, and is waiting for final approval.
A military report did not say how the troops knew Abu Sabaya was aboard the boat.
The Abu Sayyaf’s vessel sank after being hit by a grenade fired from an M-79 launcher, the report said.
The four other suspected Abu Sayyaf were still undergoing tactical interrogation as of yesterday afternoon, said Col. Juancho Saban, operations chief, Marine Forces South.
The four all hail from Kalayan, Lantawan in Basilan, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar commended the soldiers who took part in the operation.
“Our troops must keep the pressure and not let go of this opportunity to once and for all neutralize the Abu Sayyaf,” Villar said.
“I believe that the eradication of the Abu Sayyaf will lead to improved business and tourism not only in Mindanao but in the entire country as well since they have successfully tainted our country’s image abroad. Their demise will be a welcome development that will have untold benefits for the country,” he said.
Sen. Robert Barbers cautioned the military not to be too eager in releasing reports to the media on Sabaya.
“We must be very careful of announcing that Sabaya is already dead unless they are sure that it is Sabaya’s body. They already embarrassed when they prematurely announced the deaths of (Isnilon) Hapilon and Janjalani,” Barbers said.
With Sammy Martin
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