Sayyaf co-founder arrested in Indonesia, deported

MANILA, Philippines - A founding member of the Abu Sayyaf was arrested and deported yesterday by the Indonesian government to face prosecution in the Philippines for several crimes, including the kidnapping of several guests and workers in a Palawan resort on May 27, 2001.

Among the victims were contractor Reghis Romero II and American missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham. Baser Sulaiman Latip, alias Rahim Malik Suwaib, was escorted back to the Philippines by Jose de Guzman of the Philippine Consulate in Jakarta and Superintendent Roel de Leon, attaché of the Philippine National Police. They arrived on

Philippine Airlines flight PR-536 at 5:42 a.m. yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino  International Centennial Airport.

Ferdinand Sampol, Immigration Airport Operations chief, said Latip, who was handcuffed, was received by immigration officer Mhel de Castro and National Bureau

of Investigation (NBI) agents Alex Bautista and Roger Susuco.

Latip was brought to the NBI office escorted by armed operatives. While most of those kidnapped in Palawan were murdered or freed after ransom was paid, the Burnhams were held captive for a year and a few days. In a rescue operation by the military on June 7, 2002, Martin was killed, while Gracia suffered a gunshot wound in the right thigh.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reportedly offered a $1.5-million reward

for Latip’s arrest. Lawyer Ricardo Diaz, regional director and chief of the NBI’s Counter Terrorism Unit, said Latip is well- known in Basilan and Zamboanga, being a member

of the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro National Liberation Front. “Latip’s involvement was not as fighter but as a finance officer and the conduit for al-Qaeda member Muhamad Jamal

Khalifa to facilitate transfer of Saudi funds to the ASG and other groups,” said an NBI report. – With Sandy Araneta