October 17, 2002, The Philippine Star, Top Sayyaf leader wants to surrender, by Paolo Romero,

October 17, 2002, The Philippine Star, Top Sayyaf leader wants to surrender, by Paolo Romero,

A top leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, wanted by the United States for the deaths of two American hostages in Mindanao, said yesterday he wanted to surrender. 

Hamsiraji Sali told Radio Mindanao Network that he was ready to lay down his arms but accused former Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina of sabotaging an earlier planned surrender. 

Sali, who uses the alias Commander Jose Ramirez, said he decided to give up because he felt sorry for civilians in Basilan who could not earn a living peacefully because of military operations against the Islamic extremist group. 

Sali, who has a $1-million reward on his head put up by American authorities, said he wants to help President Arroyo bring peace to Basilan. 

"I want to be of help to the President because just like our mothers, we could see her (Mrs. Arroyo) already tired of the situation here in Basilan," Sali said in broken Filipino. "That's why I want to help her so that investments would pour (into the island)." 

He said he was ready to surrender to military intelligence officers who have been talking to him but that Carolina aborted the surrender by ordering soldiers to operate against him. 

"We should talk about my surrender here in Basilan. I am surrendering not because of amnesty or anything else but because the civilians here in Basilan could not earn a living in peace because they are afraid of soldiers," Sali said. 

"I want our talks to push through but the only thing I want to say to them is I don't want to deal with Carolina," he added. 

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Eduardo Purificacion said the planned surrender was a welcome development. 

"If he is really sincere in surrendering, then we would arrange for it but he has to face the cases for his crimes committed against the people," he said. 

Purificacion added that "he (Sali) should be given a full trial as all Filipino citizens are entitled to." 

The US government has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of five Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Sali, for the kidnapping last year of Americans Martin and Gracia Burnham and Guillermo Sobero. 

The others on that list are Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon, Abu Solaiman, and former bandit spokesman Abu Sabaya who was believed killed in an encounter June 21 off Zamboanga del Norte. 

Sobero was beheaded by the rebels last year while Martin Burnham was killed in a rescue attempt on June 7. Gracia Burnham survived with a bullet wound and is back in the United States. 

On the nearby island of Jolo, army troops clashed Wednesday with Abu Sayyaf rebels, killing an undetermined number, officials said. The Muslim extremists are holding three Indonesian tugboat crewmen and four Jehovah's Witnesses members hostage on the island. 

Col. Alexander Aleo, an Army commander on the island, said the troops suffered no fatalities during the fight in the jungle of Patikul town. 

Aleo said the Abu Sayyaf band, which splintered into groups of four during the clash, dragged away the bodies of their slain members. 

"Our forces have been pursuing the rebels in the jungle, where the Abu Sayyaf is holding the seven hostages," Aleo told reporters. 

Last week, guerrillas killed 11 marines and wounded 26 others during a rescue operation in Patikul. 

The military said Radullan Sahiron, an Abu Sayyaf leader, was wounded in the fighting but escaped. Six of his men were killed. 

Sahiron was one of the Abu Sayyaf leaders who kidnapped 21 mostly Asian and European holidaymakers from a beach resort on Malaysia’s Sipadan island in 2000. – Paolo Romero