Sayyaf leader captured

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A ranking Abu Sayyaf leader, who took part in the abduction of teachers and students in Basilan a few years ago, was captured by military intelligence agents in a remote village in Patikul, Sulu yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Roemo Tolentino, commander of Task Force Comet, said Kalaw Jaljalis, alias Commander Kalaw, was arrested in his safehouse in Barangay Litayon.

The military also implicated Jaljalis in the kidnappings of Fr. Cirilo Nacorda, Spanish priest Bernardo Blanco and Dr. Nilo Barandino and his family in the mid-1990s.

Jaljalis, who carried a P350,000 prize on his head, was one of the original followers of Abu Sayyaf founder Abdurajak Janjalani, who was killed in an encounter in Lamitan, Basilan on Dec. 18, 1998, according to Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces information officer. — Roel Pareño