Sayyaf wanted for Basilan kidnappings shot dead

Soldiers fatally shot a suspected Muslim militant wanted for alleged kidnappings, after he pulled out a pistol as they approached him in the southern Philippines, an army general said yesterday.

Soldiers had spotted Jamal Taib in the remote Maluso township on southern Basilan island and a group of special forces were approaching him on Saturday when he pulled out the weapon, prompting the soldiers to shoot and kill him, said regiment commander Brig. Gen. Arturo Ortiz.

Taib allegedly was a follower of the late Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and was wanted by authorities for a string of kidnappings in the country’s volatile south. The military had offered a reward of 150,000 pesos ($3,400) for Taib’s capture, Ortiz told reporters.

The coastal township of Maluso in Basilan, about 900 kilometers south of Manila, used to be a key stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda-linked group blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization.

US-backed offensives that started in 2002 have severely set back the Abu Sayyaf, forcing many of its militants to abandon Maluso and other Basilan lairs. Its elusive leader, Janjalani, was killed by marines in a clash on southern Jolo island last year.

The Abu Sayyaf currently has more than 300 armed members scattered in Basilan and nearby Jolo, from a peak of more than 1,000 guerrillas in early 2000, the military says. – AP