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Senior Abu Sayyaf leader wants to surrender
 [PNA] A senior Philippine military official disclosed that Abu Sayyaf one-armed and top leader Radullan Sahiron plans to surrender to the government. Westmincom spokesman Carlito Galvez said, "Radullan Sahiron is contemplating to surrender because he is old."Galvez said that one of the conditions of Sahiron is for the government "not to turn him over to the U.S. government" when he turns himself in. The FBI has set a million reward for the capture of Sahiron. Sahiron is the leading figure in the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu province after most of the founding Abu Sayyaf leaders were killed. Galvez said, "We see that not only those in the lower ranks of the ASG are expressing their desire to surrender because they’realready feeling the heat of the military operation. And they also feel the sincerity of the President to accept people who wanted to surrender." Galvez said they were employing non-lethal approaches in dealing with the Abu Sayyaf, including a rehabilitation program. He said they are replicating this approach from their military counterparts in Indonesia and Malaysia. Galvez said the same tactic was used in "decimating" the networks of the Jemaah Islamiyah. On Thursday, Galvez presented to the local media the 11 Abu Sayyaf rebels, including two sub-leaders, who surrendered to the government in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. Ben Saudi Sariol, one of the 11 surrenderers, said they decided to turn themselves in to the military as the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf have intensified in recent months. "We just want a peaceful life. We want our children to go to school, and earn a decent living. We feel much safer now," Sariol said in Tausug dialect. Ben, along with his father Berong Sariol and nine other relatives, surrendered to the troops on Tuesday night. They also surrendered their firearms to the military. Posted by: ryuge 2017-04-15 |
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