Authorities said Nur Mohammed Umog, one of four people who allegedly go by the alias Abu Muslim al-Ghazie, belonged to a unit of the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group that raises funds to sustain its operations through extortion.
Umog reportedly has at least 50 pending arrest warrants issued by courts in Basilan for several capital offenses.
Police and military authorities also believe Umog was involved in many kidnappings for ransom, including the abduction of American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, who have been held by the Abu Sayyaf for almost a year.
Umog was identified through photos obtained by police and military agents from Umog’s relatives in Zamboanga City and Basilan.
Umog was captured and positively identified by authorities in Cotabato City with the assistance of four captured Abu Sayyaf members, including Junior Jikiron, who also used the alias Abu Muslim al-Ghazie.
Umog, military sources said, has long been on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s order of battle. He is also an explosives expert and was involved in a series of deadly bomb blasts in Mindanao, including the latest bomb attack that killed 15 people and wounded 55 others in General Santos City last April 21.
Besides Jikiron, captured ASG member Salip Abdulla, alias Sukarno Habib Yasin, confirmed that Umog is indeed the notorious Abu Muslim al-Ghazie.
Basilan police director Supt. Bensali Jabarni said Umog carried a large reward on his head and has long been the subject of police manhunts in the province. The charges on the 50 warrants for Umog’s arrest include multiple murder, rape, kidnapping, car theft and extortion.
"I’m certain he resettled in Cotabato City because he thought it was safe for him to hide there," Jabarni told The STAR in a telephone interview. He added that Umog is a well-educated Ustadz, with a bachelor’s degree in science and a former public school teacher in Isabela, Basilan: "(Umog) is fluent both in English and Arabic."
Police files also identified Umog as a recruiter and organizer of the Abu Sayyaf who has trained in demolition and sabotage operations.
Army intelligence agents in Cotabato City said Umog is the strategist coordinating at least 12 extortionists, all of whom operate in the South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos City (Socsargen) area and, like him, belong to the Tausug tribe.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Leandro Mendoza flew to Mindanao to conduct a personal assessment of the ongoing investigation by the Central Mindanao police office.
PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina said the PNP "is in the process of placing under scientific examination Umog’s handwriting (to compare samples of his signature with those found) on extortion letters (typed) using an Underwood typewriter" to determine if Umog is the same Abu Muslim Al-Ghazie.
Mendoza also said that, during the initial investigation, police found similarities between Umog’s handwriting and the signature of Abu Muslim Al-Ghazie on several extortion letters sent to business establishments in the cities of Cotabato and General Santos.
Some of the extortion letters, police said, were written using a portable Underwood typewriter seized during a raid at the house of Abdulatip Paglala, who is allegedly a member of Umog’s extortion group.
Paglala also uses the alias Abu Muslim al-Ghazie, police said, adding that he eluded arrest during the raid on his house at Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat last May 8.
Espina said PNP investigators are also conducting a voice analysis comparing taped radio interviews with the man who identified himself as Abu Muslim Al-Ghazie on the air and Umog’s speaking voice to determine if it was Umog who phoned in bomb threats broadcast over local radio stations in Cotabato City.
Initial results of the voice analysis also showed similarities between the voice patterns of Umog and the radio station caller who identified himself as Abu Muslim Al-Ghazie and claimed responsibility for the General Santos City bombings on behalf of Al Harakatul Islamiya, the ASG’s formal name.
Police did not find any explosives on Umog when he was arrested on Almonte street in downtown Cotabato City, but they confiscated a Nokia 5110 cellular phone, three SIM cards, a diary and rebel documents.
An examination of the seized cellular phone and SIM cards is now underway to determine if it was Umog, using the alias Abu Muslim al-Ghazie, who threatened local businessmen into shelling out money for the Abu Sayyaf extortion racket using the cellular phone. Police are also examining the cellular phone to see if the numbers recorded in the phone’s memory and the three SIM cards match any of the telephone numbers contacted by Abu Muslim al-Ghazie during the recent series of bombings in Mindanao.
Mendoza ordered Central Mindanao police chief Senior Superintendent Bartolome Baluyot to develop all pieces of scientific evidence to ensure and air-tight case against Umog. — With reports from Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, AFP