By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
MANILA, Philippines– Five members of Abu Sayyaf who have been sought after for alleged high-profile kidnappings and bomb attacks are currently under the custody of Philippine National Police. The five men were deported from Malaysia where they have been jailed in the recent years for violating Malaysian immigration law.
Abu Sayyaf is an al-Qaida-linked militant group known for beheadings and bomb attacks. It is the smallest but the most violent Muslim militant group in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf is said to have received funds from al-Qaida and is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. U.S.-backed Filipino troops have been trying to wipe out this militant group comprised of about 400 fighters.
In 2009, Abu Sayyaf began a kidnapping spree in efforts to raise money for activities. On Monday, Philippine police recovered the severed head of Abu Sayyaf’s latest victim, a Filipino farmer who was kidnapped and then beheaded when his family failed to pay the requested ransom of 25 million pesos ($535,000).
An advocacy group, International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager for East Asia, Natalia Rain said, “Imagine living in a state where you know you may be seized from your home at any moment and have your fate thrust into the hands of radical terrorists.” Rain added, “The brazenness of men who would behead an elderly man for his impoverished family’s failure to pay an outrageous ransom should wake us up to the horrifying reality of this thirty-year conflict.”
The arrested suspects are alleged to have been involved with kidnappings of 10 European tourist and 11 Asian workers from a resort in Malaysia, and are linked to a 2002 bomb attack in a department store in southern Philippines. One of the suspects is also believed to have been involved in an unspecified past terrorist attack that targeted American tourists in the Philippines.
Currently, Abu Sayyaf is holding captive an Italian Red Cross worker, Sri Lankan peace advocate, and school teachers.
For more information, please see:
BosNewsLife – Al-Qaeda-linked Group Beheads Kidnapped Christian Farmer – 19 May 2009
Global Nation – 5 Abu Sayyaf suspects deported from Malaysia – 20 May 2009
GMANews.TV – 4 Sayyaf members nabbed in Malaysia now under PNP custody – 20 May 2009
Monsters and Critic – Five suspected Philippine militants deported from Malaysia – 20 May 2009
MSNBC – Filipino militants behead kidnapped farmer: police – 18 May 2009
Taiwan News – Malaysia turns over 5 Filipino terror suspects – 20 May 2009
