Abu Sayyaf member wanted for 2001 kidnap arrested

MANILA, Philippines — Another alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, wanted for the 2001 kidnapping of workers at a plantation in Basilan, was arrested in an operation in Taguig City on Wednesday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday.

Salahim Dawani, alias Abu Moadz, was served an arrest warrant issued by the Basilan regional trial court at a house in Maharlika Village at around 5 p.m. after the NBI received a tip, according to Counter-Terrorism Division chief Raoul Manguerra.

Two survivors of the 2001 Golden Harvest plantation kidnapping in Lantawan, Basilan – Primitivo Falcasantos and Crisanto Suela – identified Dawani as among a group of men who kidnapped them and burned the plantation’s chapel.

Some of the workers who were kidnapped were later beheaded.

The NBI said Dawani was also seen being trained by foreign terrorists in bomb making.

Dawani was also tagged in the kidnapping of American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham in Dos Palmas, Palawan, the NBI said.

Another victim testified that the suspect served as part of an augmentation force for Abu Sayyaf members who staged a kidnapping in Sipadan in Sabah, Malaysia in April 2000.

In February, alleged Abu Sayyaf members Harub Jaljali and Pinky Anu Hadjinulla, who were also charged for the plantation kidnapping, were arrested in Zamboanga City.