ZAMBOANGA
The nephew of a bomb-maker with a $1 million bounty on his head has been arrested in the Philippines’ Muslim south, police said Wednesday.
Abi Salman, also known as Sauman Usman, is said to be the nephew of Jemaah Islamiyah militant Abdul Basit Usman, who underwent explosives training in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s.
Salman has links to militant groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah, both associated with al-Qaeda, and had been wanted by police in the Philippines.
He was arrested in a combined police and military operation in Tuka village, Maguindanao province, on Mindanao, the southern-most major island of the archipelago.
Chief Superintendent Noel Delos Reyes, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Salman was wanted for a spate of deadly bombings in central Mindanao.
Reyes said Salman, who was subject to a 1.3-million Philippine peso ($29,000) bounty, appeared to surrender but was shot in the leg when he tried to snatch a weapon from a security force member.
His uncle was indicted for his role in bomb attacks dating to 2003. He is believed to be hiding in central Mindanao, where a number of Islamist groups are fighting for greater autonomy. He was rumored to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan in January 2010 but was reportedly seen in the Philippines in June this year.
Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, commander of the National Capital Region Command, said intelligence reports indicated Usman is alive and hiding in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, military and police officials are to attend a public meeting in Sulu province Friday to answer claims they facilitated a ransom payment to Abu Sayyaf for the release of two German tourists.
Officials from the armed forces and the national police will be grilled over the Oct. 17 release of Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Henrike Diesen, 55, allegedly in exchange for a 250 million Philippine peso ($5.5 million) ransom.
On Monday, civil society representatives met Sulu Governor Toto Tan, who heads the Special Action Committee, which was tasked to oversee the response to the hostage crisis. However, negotiations for the release were conducted in secret and the committee has still not been officially informed.
“We were not informed that the hostages were already rescued and it was only through media reports that we became aware that they were rescued Friday night and [were] in the custody of the armed forces,” Tan said.
The military insists that no ransom was paid despite Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Rami’s claims that it was. The couple was kidnapped in April from their yacht off the coast of Mindanao.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc said the Germans were freed due to pressure from security forces – a claim the military has used in previous foreign hostage releases.
In a Facebook post, he said: “Just wondering if anyone here personally saw the P250 million cold cash in the hands of Abu Sayyaf? Let's not believe the word of Abu Rami as if he is Jesus Christ.”
The release of the Germans came hours after security forces launched an operation to capture Abu Sayyaf militants holding foreign hostages in Sulu.
Abu Sayyaf are thought to be holding around a dozen Filipino and foreign hostages and, according to the military, regularly move their hostages from village to village.
www.aa.com.tr/en
