Sayyaf leader, son slain

JOLO, Sulu — Government soldiers killed an Abu Sayyaf subcommander, his son and three other people in a raid in Sulu before dawn yesterday, the military said.

Troops recovered more than 10 assault rifles and pistols following a gunfight with members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group in the village of Tiis Kabatuan in Talipao town in Sulu island, said 10th Army Brigade commander Col. Romeo Tolentino.

In Isabela City, Basilan, at least six American bloodhounds have already been dispatched as government troops intensified their hunt against the elusive Abu Sayyaf group still holding an American couple and several Filipinos in the jungles of the island province.

Government soldiers said the trained dogs were brought by an advance party of US military anti-terrorist experts that would help thousands of Philippine troops flush out the terrorist band believed to have links with the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

Tolentino identified the slain Abu Sayyaf leader as Omar Sahibul, a subcommander of Nadzmie Sabtulah, who is believed to have planned the kidnapping of three Americans and 17 Filipinos from a Palawan resort May 27.

Sabtulah, arrested in July, also helped lead the kidnapping of 21 people, including 10 Western tourists, from a Malaysian dive resort last year. All but one, a Filipino resort worker, have been freed, reportedly in exchange for huge ransoms paid by Libya.

The rebels are still holding an American couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham from Wichita, Kansas, and 10 Filipinos on Basilan island. The rebels killed the third American, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California, in June. His remains were found two weeks ago in the Basilan jungle.

Tolentino said soldiers found documents and identification cards indicating that Sahibul was working as a government village leader while serving as an Abu Sayyaf guerrilla.

He said some guerrillas escaped into the jungle during the gunbattle, which erupted around 4:30 a.m.

Two weeks earlier, troops killed 18 Abu Sayyaf gunmen also in Sulu, and 15 in Basilan, the military said. Officials reported one soldier killed and 18 wounded in that fighting, among the fiercest since June when Manila ordered a massive offensive against the rebels.

The Jolo raid came days after about 19 US military advisers arrived in the southern city of Zamboanga close to Basilan, to assess the military’s operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

About 25 US military advisers arrived in the Philippines last week for a two-week visit to decide what kind of US training and equipment aid the Filipino troops could use.

Meanwhile, in Isabela, officials declined to comment on the presence of the bloodhounds, but word slipped out when a soldier confirmed that "these high-breed dogs were brought by the American anti-terrorist experts."

Sources disclosed that the Americans will today be "personally inspecting" the areas where Philippine troops are engaging the Abu Sayyaf.

"They are also expected to visit the LRC (Light Reaction Company) which the Americans have trained and now dispatched here to combat the bandits," according to the source.

Armed Forces Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu said that military forces have been concentrating on the 7 by 7 square kilometer area of the rugged and vastly vegetated terrain of the Sampinit complex, which straddles six towns and a city.

Cimatu said he has already invited the US war experts to see the "cruel terrain" but declined to confirm any date of their visit.

Col. Hermogenes Esperon confirmed that the bandits continued to split up into smaller groups to evade pursuing soldiers, but they were already hard-up on logistics.

"They cannot do otherwise; they would rather hide first than go on foraging," Esperon said.

He also speculated that both the kidnappers and their hostages were getting sick due to the "harsh environment."

Expecting possible bandit reinforcements from the Sulu-based faction, the military has beefed up the security blockade in coastal areas, Esperon said.

The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines, but the government regards it as a bandit gang.

The group, which is believed to have links to terror suspect Osama bin Laden, has been included by the United States in a list of terrorist groups worldwide. — Roel Pareño