Alih Malabon, alias Abu Nidal, is believed to head a band directly under the command of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafi Janjalani, who remains at large.
Military intelligence, meanwhile, has uncovered an Abu Sayyaf plot to wreak havoc in urban areas like Zamboanga City to avenge the capture of Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, in Indanan, Sulu last Dec. 7.
Intelligence sources said the recent discovery of two bombs near the airport in Jolo, the capital of Sulu, was part of the Abu Sayyaf terror plot.
One of the bombs accidentally exploded while being defused, killing a bomb expert and wounding another last week.
Military intelligence believes that the Abu Sayyaf would unleash the wave of terror on New Year’s Eve so firecracker explosions could camouflage the bombings.
Zamboanga City police have tightened security on the streets through checkpoints and chokepoints to avert any terrorist attack.
Malabon, along with Mohammad Said who was arrested earlier, has been implicated in the murders of Americans Guillermo Sobero and Martin Burnham, two of three US hostages snatched by the bandits from the Dos Palmas resort off Palawan in May 2001.
Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, Armed Forces Southern Command chief, and Col. Roland Rodriguez, officer-in-charge of Task Force Zamboanga, could not say if Malabon and Said were part of the terror squad. — Christina Mendez, Roel Pareño, AFP