3 Sayyaf men nabbed in GenSan

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — This city peacefully celebrated its 35th anniversary, highlighted by the 5th Tuna Festival last Friday, thanks to what authorities revealed was the arrest of three suspected Abu Sayyaf members purportedly planning to sow terror during the festivities.

Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, said police and military intelligence agents nabbed the three men while they watched the motorboat race, one of the Charter Day highlights, at Lion’s Beach in Barangay Dadiangas South last Thursday.

Yano identified the suspects as Harid Ambay, 18, of Glan, Sarangani; Maa Impo Manggot, 25, and Musa Impo, 21, both of Maasim, Sarangani.

The intelligence agents, Yano said, acted on a tip about the presence of suspicious-looking persons at the motorboat race’s venue.

Yano claimed that the three men "admitted participation in several kidnappings in Basilan and Zamboanga."

He said they are facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with the Regional Trial Court of Jolo, Sulu.

Ambay allegedly belonged to the Abu Sayyaf unit led by Commander Robot, while Impo and Manggot were with the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadafy Janjalani.

The Abu Sayyaf, accused of having links with the international terrorist network al-Qaeda of Osama bin Laden, was behind several high-profile kidnappings in Mindanao.

Intelligence reports indicated that the suspects were out to sow terror during the holding of the week-long Charter Day celebration which culminated on Saturday.

The three suspects were brought to Zamboanga City for further investigation and identification by their former kidnap victims and witnesses.

The Tuna Festival drew local and foreign tourists. Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon was the guest of honor.