| A member of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf was identified by witnesses as being behind the latest murder of a journalist in downtown Jolo, the Sulu capital, a military commander said. Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, head of the anti-terror Task Force Comet, said witnesses had identified the Abu Sayyaf member as having shot dead photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag last Friday. Lumawag, 26, was the photo editor of the independent news agency MindaNews based in Davao City. "The witnesses know who the killer is and based on (their) description, we know this (man). He is a member of the Abu Sayyaf," Dema-ala said. Dema-ala said he did not know the motive for Lumawag's killing. Probers, however, said he could have been mistaken as an intelligence agent. Lumawag was shot in the head with a caliber .45 handgun while he was on his way to take a picture of the sunset from the Jolo pier, said Carolyn Arguillas, chairman of MindaNews who was also in Jolo. |