Leader of Italian priest’s kidnappers killed in escape try

Government troops shot dead late Thursday the suspected leader of a gang that kidnapped Fr. Guiseppi Pierantoni after he allegedly grabbed the rifle of one of the soldiers and tried to flee from military custody.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva told reporters the government will not negotiate with the kidnappers.

"I don’t think we can talk with the criminals," he said. "We won’t talk with them as if we are begging them (to release the hostage)."

However, Villanueva said President Arroyo left instructions yesterday before flying to Shanghai, China for the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police to ensure the safety of Pierantoni.

Army Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, Southern Command chief, told reporters Akkidin Abdusalam, alias Commander Kiddie, was killed as he was leading soldiers to the alleged location of the Italian Catholic priest and missionary.

Soldiers and officers cheered loudly when Army Brig. Gen. Angel Atutubo, commander of Task Force Giuseppi, reported during a military briefing that Abdusalam had been killed.

Atutubo said Abdusalam and another gang man, identified only as Hassan, under armed guard, were aboard a pump boat en route to an island off Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur when Abdusalam grabbed the Armalite rifle of a soldier and started shooting, wounding two.

The other soldiers fired back, killing Abdusalam and Hassan, whose body fell overboard and was lost at sea, he added.

Atutubo said Abdusalam might have been trying to negotiate with military authorities for Pierantoni’s release to avoid Army troops that had been sent after them.

Cimatu said Abdusalam and Hassan were leading soldiers to a hiding place in Margosatubig town, where Pierantoni was said to be held, when the two allegedly grabbed the guns of their guards and tried to escape.

Abdusalam told military authorities after his arrest Wednesday that he could lead troops to Pierantoni, he added.

Abdusalam was arrested along with two of his men aboard a passenger bus bound for Zamboanga City when it stopped at a military checkpoint in Tungawan town near Dimataling in Zamboanga del Sur, just a few hours after Pierantoni was kidnapped.

In Lanao del Norte, Gov. Imelda Dimaporo ordered police to join Army troops in a massive search of towns leading to Lanao del Sur to check if the kidnappers had taken Pierantoni there.

Dimaporo said she has also mobilized the town mayors of Lanao del Norte to provide government troops any information on the possible route of the kidnappers.

In Lanao del Sur, Islamic religious leaders in three coastal towns pledged yesterday not to give sanctuary to the kidnappers of Pierantoni.

Senior Superintendent Omar Ali, information director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police force, said local officials in these three towns have mobilized civilians to monitor the movement of armed men in their communities.

"What is important here is that prominent members of the religious community in the area and the mayors have vowed to prevent these kidnappers from entering their respective areas," he said.

ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Acmad Omar has deployed policemen in strategic points in the Unayan area in the second district of Lanao del Sur, which is a known haven of kidnappers, he added.

In Zamboanga del Sur, Superintendent Samson Ubay-Ubay, provincial police director, identified the leader of the kidnappers of Pierantoni as Commander Aguila, a member of the "lost command" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Military authorities in Zamboanga peninsula have confirmed the report of Ubay-Ubay, police officials in Camp Crame in Quezon City said. — With John Unson, Lino de la Cruz, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Edith Regalado