THE police have arrested a suspected Abu Sayyaf member who was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of 21 people in Sipadan, Malaysia eight years ago, according to the policeÂ’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. The police identified the suspect as Jaitun Timual who was nabbed in front of the office of the Philippine National Red Cross Zamboanga City chapter along Rizal Street in downtown Zamboanga on the way home after attending a seminar, a source said. | Timual who was purportedly trained in a terrorist camp in Syria, had a pending warrant of arrest for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of 21 people in 2000 at Sipadan Diving Resort in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. |
The hostages—10 Europeans and 11 Asians—were herded by the Abu Sayyaf to the province of Sulu where they were freed in batches reportedly after paying ransom money. Timual is now detained in Camp General Eduardo Batalla in Zamboanga City and is expected to be transferred to the National Police’s Camp Crame headquarters in Quezon City.
In a related development, the military and police have deployed forces in Sulu to hunt down other members of the Abu Sayyaf group who are believed to have been involved in the Sipadan kidnapping. The MarineÂ’s elite Marine Force Recon Battalion, headed by Lt. Col. Ruben Candelario, was sent to Sulu to hunt down the remaining Abu Sayyaf leaders and followers in the area.
Among the known Abu Sayyaf leaders hiding in Sulu is Radulan Sahiron, the oldest and dubbed as the one-armed bandit leader and Al-bader Parad, who was involved in the 2000 kidnapping in Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia.