Davao exec nabbed for Abu kidnapping

DAVAO CITY — Police and military intelligence agents yesterday arrested a suspected Abu Sayyaf leader linked to the killing of a Customs official in Zamboanga City in 1999.

Wajil Ahalul, a city hall official, was arrested on the strength of a warrant issued by the Zamboanga City regional trial court at his house near the Almendras Gymnasium along Mabini Boulevard here.

Ahalul is Davao City deputy mayor for the Tausog tribe.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has named a deputy mayor for each of the various tribes living in Davao City.

Ahalul was immediately flown to Metro Manila aboard a Philippine Airlines flight by police and military intelligence agents after he was arrested at about 9 a.m. yesterday.

It is not known whether Ahalul would be detained at Camp Crame or Camp Aguinaldo, or in any other jail in Metro Manila.

Ahalul could be presented to the media after undergoing interrogation by police and military intelligence agents.

Ahalul was allegedly involved in the Abu Sayyaf raid on Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur in the 1990s, in which Abu Sayyaf members ran amok, setting fire to the town center and killing close to a hundred residents.

Ahalul’s suspected cohorts are still being pursued, sources said. — Edith Regalado