October 20, 2012, Gulf News, 2 Abu Sayyaf leaders arrested in Mindanao,

October 20, 2012, Gulf News, 2 Abu Sayyaf leaders arrested in Mindanao,

MANILA: Two suspected leaders of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremists including one who carried a $75,000 bounty on his head have been arrested in restive Mindanao, according to the police.

Director General Nicanor Bartolome, the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), identified the suspects as Sali Basal Taib and Abdula Alad who were arrested in separate raids on their hideouts in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Basilan.

The biggest “catch,” Bartolome said, was Alad, an Abu Sayyaf sub-commander who had a $75,000 reward for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of 20 foreign and Filipino tourists from a posh resort on the island province of Palawan in Southern Luzon in 2001.

On the other hand, Bartolome said Taib is wanted for the abduction and illegal detention of 10 plantation workers in the town of Lantawan, Basilan also in 2001.

He said a regional trial court in Mindanao ordered Alad’s arrest for his alleged participation in the abduction of the foreign and Filipino tourists when Abu Sayyaf members raided the five-star Dos Palmas resort in Palawan 11 years ago.