3 Sayyaf leaders arrested

ZAMBOANGA CITY — An anti-terror unit of Marines and Navy elements captured three local leaders of the Abu Sayyaf in a two-day operation in Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi to search for Khadaffy Janjalani, who is reported to be hiding in the area.

The fall of the suspected terrorists last Friday came as Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza gave orders to verify the reported death of the Abu Sayyaf chieftain and hunt down remnants of the Muslim extremist group, Capt. Rommel Abrao, Marine information officer, said yesterday.

Janjalani was reportedly killed in a military air raid in Datu Piang, Maguindanao supposedly while meeting with members of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) last month.

His death has yet to be confirmed. Sightings of Janjalani in Tawi-Tawi, 300 kilometers south of here, bolstered speculations that he staged his own death to deceive military agents hot on his trail.

"The intelligence reports alleged that high-ranking Abu Sayyaf leaders were hiding in the municipality of Sitangkai, further alleging that their leader Janjalani was also in the area," Abrao said.

He said the operation by the anti-terror unit of Task Force 62 was a result of an intelligence buildup after a rebel returnee informed the military of the elusive Janjalani’s clandestine meeting with JI elements.

Abrao added that high-powered assault weapons were also confiscated from the arrested Abu Sayyaf members, who were identified as Halimao Hadjiula, 42; Duran Amsajid, 61, both from Siet, Panamao in Jolo, Sulu; and Said Abdulrhiman, 47, from Sitangkai. They were undergoing interrogation at the Marines headquarters in the island-province until yesterday.

The raiding Marine unit under Lt. Col. Elvin Velasco and the Navy Special Warfare Group seized from the suspects four M16s, one M14 rifle, two caliber .45 automatics, a .38 caliber revolver with assorted ammunition. Various uniforms, icom handheld radios, suspenders, pouches and other paraphernalia were also recovered.

The raiding team launched the operation last Thursday that lasted Friday, covering the areas of Siantok Panamao and Siantok Talipao, both in Sitangkai.

While the Marines and Navy elements made a house-to-house search for Janjalani, two Navy gunboats, PG 390 and PCF 333 from the Naval Task Force 62, conducted sea-blockade operations at entry and exit points of suspected terrorists, Abrao said.

Earlier, Army authorities in Central Mindanao claimed to have received unconfirmed reports of Janjalani’s death in the Nov. 19 air raid at Butelin marsh in Datu Piang.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Efren Abu said the military leadership was informed of Janjalani’s death but stressed the reports have to be verified first.

"For as long as we don’t recover his (Janjalani’s) body, we consider him still alive," Abu told reporters recently.

For his part, Braganza said the many sightings of Janjalani could just be a ploy to shake off government forces.

Braganza claimed even Janjalani is no longer at ease with his own men and relatives, fearing betrayal in exchange for the huge reward for his capture, dead or alive.

Janjalani has a $1-million bounty on his head out of the $5 million being offered by the United States for the "neutralizing" of five key leaders of the Abu Sayyaf.

The government also has allotted P10 million reward for Janjalani’s capture or death. — With Jaime Laude