The Philippine military said on Wednesday that a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf group of Abu Sulaiman, one of the top five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, was killed in a gunbattle on Tuesday on the southwestern island of Jolo, military spokesman Major Eugene Batara told reporters. The military had previously said Sulaiman might have been wounded in the clash but Batara said a body found when the fighting subsided turned out to be that of the militant leader. Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, the military said.
Sulaiman is among five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf wanted by the United States for the kidnapping of three of its citizens and 17 Filipino tourists from the Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in May 2001. Sulaiman is also believed to be involved in the worst terror attack in the Philippines, the bombing of a passenger ferry off Manila Bay in 2004 that killed at least 200 people.
Batara said the military was positive the dead man was Sulaiman, but previous claims by the government of successes against militants have sometimes been exaggerated or erroneous.
The U.S. Embassy said it was awaiting confirmation that the dead man was Sulaiman.
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