February 4, 2012, Mindanao Examiner, Security heightened in Sulu after strike on JI, Sayyaf targets,

February 4, 2012, Mindanao Examiner, Security heightened in Sulu after strike on JI, Sayyaf targets,

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 3, 2012) – Philippine authorities on Friday tightened security in the southern province of Sulu where over a dozen terrorists had been killed in a US-led military air strike on a Jemaah Islamiya base.

Police fear that terrorists would retaliate for the killings of Malaysian bomb expert Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan; and Indian militant Abdullah Ali, alias Muawiyah, and Umbra Jumdail, whose nom de guerre was Dr. Abu.

One military official said an unmanned US drone helped tracked down the terrorist hideout.

Two Philippine Air Force planes bombed the hinterland village of Lanao Dakula in Parang town at around 2.30 a.m. on Thursday and destroying the hideout.

Alert

“We are in heightened alert now for possible retaliation of the terrorists for the killing of their leaders. We have deployed additional forces to guard vital areas in the province against terrorist attack,” Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra, the Sulu police commander, said.

Freyra, who led police commandos in the ground operation, said the terrorist hideout was totally destroyed. 

“Nothing was left of the camp and everything disintegrated at ground zero, but there is a report that some terrorists were able to take away some of the bodies. Two of six bodies recovered by the Abu Sayyaf were left behind for a still unknown reason. Our informants also spotted rebel leader Ahadun Adak with at least 21 followers near the area,” he said.

JI leaders

Initial police reports said 11 people were killed in the air strikes, but the military’s Western Mindanao Command claimed as many as 15 terrorists, including Zulkifli, Abdullah and Jumdail, had been killed in the attacks.

Zulkifli and Abdullah are included in the US wanted list and carried a $5 million and $50,000 bounty respectively, while Jumdail also had a $140,000 reward for his capture dead or alive.

The Abu Sayyaf has been coddling Jemaah Islamiya terrorists tagged as behind the spate of bombings in the southern Philippines. The group is still holding two Malaysian nationals, an Indian married to a Filipina and a Japanese treasure hunter in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces.

Aussie hostage

An Australian adventurer, Warren Rodwell, is also being held by another Abu Sayyaf faction in Basilan province near Sulu. 

Rodwell, 53, was kidnapped on December 5 by gunmen disguised as policemen from his home in the seaside town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Mindanao Island where he married a Filipino woman, Miraflor Gutang, 27, in June last year.

The kidnappers demanded $2 million ransom from his wife in exchange for his freedom, but the woman said they cannot afford to pay. Both the Philippines and Australia flatly rejected the ransom demand.

Colonel Ricardo Visaya, commander of army forces in Basilan, said Rodwell is being held by the group of Puruji Indama. “Rodwell is still with that group and we are doing all we can to recover him safely,” he said.

He said the killings of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya leaders in Sulu are a big blow to the terrorist groups. “It’s a big blow alright and we still don’t know how this would affect the safety of Rodwell. But knowing the Abu Sayyaf, ransom is still its main goal here,” Visaya said.

Major General Noel Coballes, Western Mindanao military chief, said they are concentrating on building up intelligence to pinpoint the exact location of the kidnappers in Basilan. “This group is highly mobile to avoid detection by the military,” he said.

Negotiations

Another army official said there is an ongoing negotiation between the kidnappers and the specialized unit called Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response. But details or progress of the negotiations are totally unknown because no officials would come out in the open to brief the media about it.

Governor Rommel Jalosjos, of Zamboanga Sibugay, who is believed to be negotiating also with the kidnappers, said Rodwell is still alive, but he did not give any more details about ongoing efforts to free the Aussie man. He imposed a news blackout since the kidnapping of Rodwell. “He is alive,” he said.

The Western Mindanao Command also maintains that Rodwell is still being held by Indama’s group. “Rodwell is still being held by the group of Indama,” said Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, an army spokesman.

Military sources also said there are two Australian government officials in Zamboanga City and is monitoring the progress of the negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf. The duo arrived in January and is housed at Western Mindanao Command. They are also in close coordination with the Philippine National Police. The identities of the two Australian officials were not disclosed.
Abu Sayyaf

Security officials said they did not know the condition of Rodwell. But traditionally, kidnapped victims held by the Abu Sayyaf are either chained or hand cuffed as in the case of California man Guillermo Sobero, who was tied on a tree during his captivity in Basilan.

Sobero was kidnapped in 2001 along with Kansas missionary couple Gracia and Martin Burnham at a posh resort in Palawan province and brought to Basilan by boat.

Al-Qaeda

The Abu Sayyaf initially demanded the release of the blind Muslim cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman and two other international terrorists, one of them was Al-Qaeda bomber Ramsey Yousef; and the withdrawal of all US forces Israel in exchange for the US hostages. 

It later demanded huge ransoms for their foreign hostages.

Sobero was eventually beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf and left his body to be eaten by wild animals in the jungle. Only a few of his bones were recovered. Burnham was killed during a US-led rescue operation in Zamboanga del Norte where the kidnappers escaped. His wife was rescued, but had been shot and wounded. 

Same with US man Jeffrey Shilling, who was held for over 8 months in Sulu province after being lured by the Abu Sayyaf in Zamboanga City. He was chained to a tree during his captivity.

The Abu Sayyaf demanded $10 million ransom for his release. He was eventually rescued by policemen.

The Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped 20 mostly European holidaymakers from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in 2000 and brought them by boat to Sulu and negotiated with Libya and Malaysia for the release of the hostages in exchange for millions of dollars. The Philippine government helped facilitated the payment of ransoms - secretly.

The terrorists also kidnapped dozens of foreign journalists covering the hostage situation in Sulu. They were freed after the Filipino government paid over half a million pesos to buy their freedom.
VIP treatment

The Abu Sayyaf also chooses what food to feed their hostages - if they are Filipinos and are wealthy or foreigners whose family can afford to pay so-called "board and lodging" fees while negotiating for their release, the kidnapped usually feed they captives with chicken and rice, sometimes beef.

Same privilege is rare on Filipino hostages, who are only given root crops, sometimes rice and salted dry fish. If the hostage is a VIP, then they get chicken and rice for food.

In the case of the Burnham’s, the Abu Sayyaf had at one time fed them hamburger and fries, and cola.

The survival of the hostages depends entirely on how their family can quickly pay the ransom demand. But there were many instances in the past that private negotiators jacked the ransoms and get their share of the loot. And in some cases, ran away with the money.

Help Me

Police and military have linked some of its rogue commanders and members to the spate of kidnappings in the South. And authorities also implicated a senior rebel leader Barahama Ali in the kidnapping of Rodwell, an accusation strongly denied by the MILF.

Rodwell, a prolific world traveler and English teacher in China, has appealed for his safe release. The kidnappers have sent a video clip of Rodwell appealing to Australia to work for his safe release.

“To my family please do whatever to raise the two million US dollars they are asking for my release as soon as possible. To the government, to the Filipino government especially the government of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel, I’m appealing to you please help me to coordinate with my family to raise to whatever money is being asked.”

“To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety. Please help facilitate to give the group the demand. Yes, I was former army of my country but it is differently particularly the terrain. The only solution to ensure my safety is to go with whatever they need. If I’m given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive please Madame Ambassador,” the distressed Rodwell said in the video sent by the kidnappers. (Mindanao Examiner)