Edris captors get Gold Cross

KABUNTALAN, Maguindanao — Four Army soldiers who had captured fugitive Abu Sayyaf bandit Abdulmukim Edris received the Gold Cross from President Arroyo yesterday.

Awarded the Gold Cross medal were Capt. Cristobal Perez and T/Sgts. Alexander de los Santos, Jovito de los Reyes and Angel Abaniel, all of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division.

Mrs. Arroyo stayed for 30 minutes in Barangay Balong in Kabuntalan town, a known haven of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Pentagon-affiliated kidnap gangs, for the award ceremonies.

"The gallantry of these soldiers is indeed commendable," she said. "Their accomplishments will surely inspire their companions in other units now trying hard to fight terrorism and maintain peace and order in different parts of the country."

Edris, who escaped with convicted Indonesian bomb maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi and another Abu Sayyaf terrorist from Camp Crame last July 14, was killed Aug. 7 while in the custody of government troops in Lanao del Norte.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko said Edris, who had a P3-million bounty for his capture, had been arrested with MILF commander Mahmud Ismael while trying to slip through a military checkpoint in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town.

The military said Edris and Ismael were gunned down when they tried to grab the firearm of one of the soldiers escorting them to their hideout to search for Al-Ghozi who, according to intelligence reports, was in Sultan Naga Dimaporo.

Mrs. Arroyo had ordered officials of Southcom, the Armys’s 6th Infantry Division and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police force to intensify their hunt for Al-Ghozi.

Mrs. Arroyo said the primary objective of the military and police operation is Al-Ghozi, and not the MILF.

Army troops and Scout Rangers have been scouring marshy areas in Kabuntalan since Tuesday in search of Al-Ghozi.

Local officials and Islamic religious leaders in Kabuntalan have prodded the government troops to hunt down Al-Ghozi in Barangays Balong and Tumaginting after residents reported that he had been sighted in an MILF-held area.

Soldiers running after Al-Ghozi twice clashed the other day with unidentified gunmen, who had fled deep into the Liguasan Marsh, a 220,00 hectare delta, leaving behind assorted military-type weapons.

Kyamko and Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion, presented the weapons to Mrs. Arroyo yesterday when they briefed her on the manhunt for Al-Ghozi in a makeshift military command post.

Kyamko said the soldiers had recovered from Edris and Ismael two caliber .45 pistols.

"They were stopped at the checkpoint and were arrested," he said. "They were supposed to take soldiers to the hideout of Al-Ghozi but they grabbed the firearm of a soldier, there was a commotion and they were shot. Both of them were killed."

Kyamko said he believed Al-Ghozi could be near the area and that local militants could be trying to help him escape.

"I believe we are near," he said.

Kyamko said they have yet to determine if Al-Ghozi is with the group of Edris, who had reportedly been given refuge by an MILF faction.

"We could not say that the MILF organization (is holding Al-Ghozi), but there are small groups whom he probably worked (with) before (which are) protecting him," he said.

"But there are suspicions that they are together and this also confirmed reports that after they escaped from their detention cells in (Camp Crame, Quezon City) they went to Mindanao."

Al-Ghozi was serving a 17-year jail term for explosives possession when he escaped.

He had earlier admitted to plotting bomb attacks on Western targets in Singapore and led Philippine police to almost a ton of explosives hidden in General Santos City.