Abu Sayyaf kidnaps ex-MNLF leader

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Abu Sayyaf guerrillas abducted a businessman, who was a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Basilan yesterday, the military said.

They said the gunmen seized Sonny Abdulsalam at about 4 a.m. at his seaweed farm in Barangay Balono near the provincial capital of Isabela.

Abdulsalam’s family have yet to receive a ransom demand, authorities said.

Abdulsalam’s daughter, Pranseria, told probers that about 20 heavily armed men wearing ski masks barged into their farmhouse, beat up one of their workers and then seized her father.

"Nagulat na lang kami dahil wala namang kalaban ang tatay ko (We were surprised because my father has no known enemies)," she said. — Roel Pareño