Abducted merchant feared dead

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Abu Sayyaf rebels executed a Basilan trader whom they seized from his farmhouse the other day, his wife said yesterday.

"It was confirmed to me that my husband is dead, but we have yet to recover his body," said Tayang Abdusalam, wife of Panih (not Sonny as earlier reported) Abdusalam who was abducted by 20 extremist rebels from their farmhouse in Barangay Balono, 13 kilometers from the Basilan capital of Isabela.

Tayang said their workers heard three gunshots after her husband was handcuffed and mauled and dragged to a speedboat.

The victim was a former zone commander of the Moro National Liberation Front who availed himself of livelihood assistance from the government.

This developed as two soldiers were wounded in a clash with followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot in the jungles of Talipao, Sulu last Wednesday afternoon, the military said.

Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, said about 50 troopers of the 4th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat patrol in the mountain barangay of Sungcal when they encountered Andang’s followers, triggering a firefight that lasted for more than an hour.

Atendido said the rebels dragged their wounded comrades away as they withdrew after the gunbattle. — Roel Pareño