June 2, 2001, The Philippine Star, Who are the Sayyaf leaders?,

June 2, 2001, The Philippine Star, Who are the Sayyaf leaders?,

A one-armed bandit and five other warlords largely operating independently of each other lead the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious Filipino group of kidnappers holding 20 hostages, including three Americans.

The hostages are reportedly split with some of them on the southern island of Basilan and the others on the neighboring island of Sulu -- the scene of a four-month hostage crisis last year involving 10 western tourists and four European journalists.

The de facto overall leader of the 1,100-member Abu Sayyaf is Khadaffi Janjalani, whose elder brother Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani led the organization from its inception in the early 1990s until he was killed in a shootout with security forces in Basilan in December 1998.

The younger Janjalani avoids the spotlight, which could not be said of his sidekick Abu Sabaya, the nom de guerre of a former radio reporter intern named Aldam Tilao.

Sabaya has handled all communication with the outside world in the latest crisis -- using a satellite telephone seized from a European journalist kidnapped last year.

The military said the Basilan-based guerrillas were helped by Sulu-based rebel leaders when they raided the upscale resort of Dos Palmas off Palawan on May 27 and kidnapped the three Americans and 17 Filipinos.

They include Galib Andang, alias Commander Robot, and his ally Mujib Susukan, the masterminds of the Sipadan island kidnappings in Malaysia in April last year.

Andang, a short, slightly built rebel leader bears the self-imposed title of "field marshal" and chief of the "striking force."

Susukan, a lover of motorcycles, is the pony-tailed "provincial commander" of the guerrillas in Sulu.

The other leaders are Abu Jumdail, also known as "Doctor Abu," and "operations officer" Nadjmi Sabdullah, also known as "Commander Global."

Jumdail is a former sanitary inspector, billed as "state chairman," who reportedly has had some government training in health care, although he does not hold any medical degree.

Then there is Radulan Sajiron, a one-armed veteran of past Muslim secessionist campaigns, who has the title "chief of staff."

Police consider the Abu Sayyaf as plain bandits and said all their cases have led to cash ransoms. But the gunmen style themselves as champions for an independent Muslim state.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said the Abu Sayyaf had been weakened after a military operation against them since last year, leaving 357 guerrillas and 54 soldiers dead.

Adan said that the gunmen had an estimated force of 640 men plus 208 firearms in Sulu, and 464 members with 177 firearms in Basilan.

The actual number of Abu Sayyaf gunmen is however fluid. When the group mounts one of its kidnappings, hired hands including teenagers will join the effort in hopes of getting a share of the loot, intelligence officials say.

The Sulu-based guerrillas had most of the hostages and the booty last year, when at one point two factions went at each other's throats in the middle of ransom negotiations for the Western hostages.

Apparently left out in the spoils, the Janjalani-Sabaya group seized their own Western hostage in late August -- American Islamic studies graduate Jeffrey Schilling. But Washington refused to pay up and he was rescued last April.

This time the Janjalani-Sabaya faction appears to have all the cards.