Abu man in mass kidnap falls

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A suspected member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, who was allegedly involved in the mass abduction of teachers and students in Sumisip, Basilan five years ago, was captured late Monday, a military spokesman said.

Military intelligence agents nabbed Muktar Maldan in the coastal village of Taluksangay, 15 kilometers east of this city, and are interrogating him, said Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual, Armed Forces information chief.

Maldan, alias Ajan, was implicated in the March 2000 kidnapping of more than 50 students and teachers of Claret school, including Fr. Rhoel Gallardo.

Maldan was identified by one of the kidnap victims, Pascual said, without giving other details.

An Abu Sayyaf spokesman at the time said the abduction was meant to disprove government claims that the group had been largely defeated after its founder, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, was killed in a police raid in December 1998.

Some of the students and teachers were released after negotiations with local officials and Muslim religious leaders, but most were rescued by soldiers in May 2000 following a clash in which Abu Sayyaf gunmen reportedly killed Gallardo and three teachers.

Earlier, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded two other male teachers, prompting a massive military offensive.

The Abu Sayyaf, which is on the US and European lists of terrorist organizations, has since been blamed for other kidnappings and bombings, including an explosion last year on a ferry that killed at least 116 people.

Security officials say the group also has ties with the Jemaah Islamiyah, another al-Qaeda affiliate with cells in several Southeast Asian countries.

Many Filipino soldiers deployed in the South have undergone counter-terrorism training by US soldiers.