Muslim leaders denounce arrest of Sayyaf suspects

Leaders of the Islamic community denounced yesterday a wave of arrests of suspected al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, accusing the government of using Muslims as "sacrificial lambs."

Relatives of at least two men — including one who allegedly admitted to the bombing of SuperFerry 14 on Feb. 27 that killed 100 people — said the men have been abducted, framed and tortured. Those arrested have denied any link with the Abu Sayyaf, they added. Police have denied the allegations.

Islamic groups said they planned to hold rallies in Metro Manila after prayers on Friday to protest what they perceive as discrimination. "We are now calling on our brother Muslims... to unite and condemn these arrests," said Abdulbasit Marangit, an Islamic preacher in Quiapo, one of the largest Islamic communities outside Mindanao.

"When the government faces any problem, we, the Muslims, are being made sacrificial lambs. There is increasing violation of our rights." Marangit spoke to reporters after Friday prayers at the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, where dozens of men around him — some wearing traditional Muslim caps — shouted: "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is great!"

President Arroyo challenged her critics yesterday to question before the courts the legality of the arrests. "Questions raised over the legitimacy of the arrests can be fully addressed in the courts," she said in a statement from Malacañang.

Mrs. Arroyo rejected the opposition’s claims that her administration is foisting the terrorist threat on the nation as part of a "no-election" plot.

In Davao City, housing chief Cesar Dataya told The STAR Ustadz Ali Adzaman, Ayob Cali and Mustapha Bintuanon — three Muslims accused of planning to wreak havoc in Metro Manila — have been employed at city hall for more than 15 years. "I do not understand how these people have been included in the wanted list," he said.

Dataya said Adzaman has been a teacher at one of the Madrassah Arabic schools which city hall has been funding since 1985. Cali was has been an employee of the local civil registrar for the past 17 years, while Bintuanon has been connected with the city mayor’s office for a long time, he added.

Dataya said Adzaman is thinking of filing charges against those who caused him and his family irreparable damage by including him in the wanted list. "Adzaman had to be released since the police and the other intelligence units do not have any dossier on him, and that there was already no legal basis for his continued detention," he said.

"We are now readying the charges because what they did was not fair and that they do not have any basis for their inclusion in the wanted list, especially with Adzaman."Adzaman presented himself to authorities Thursday after meeting with Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, while Cali was set to surface yesterday afternoon, along with Bintuanon. Adzaman was released yesterday morning after being subjected to intense interrogation overnight by intelligence agents.

At Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces public information chief, confirmed that Abdulwali Ancheta Villanueva, one of those arrested and accused of being a terrorist, was anchor of the program "Light of Peace" over Armed Forces Radio.

The program was aired over Armed Forces Radio to "bridge the gap" between Christian and Muslim Filipinos, Lucero said. It was aired Fridays from 12 noon to 2 p.m. for two years until it was stopped last January. Lucero did not say why the radio program was taken off the air.

Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, Armed Forces civil relations chief, who has supervision over the military radio station, said they are coordinating with the Philippine National Police to determine the real identity of Villanueva, who was known as "Walter Ancheta Villanueva" before he converted to Islam.

In Zamboanga City, four suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists were arrested Thursday by naval intelligence agents as they awaited a boat to take them to neighboring Malaysia.

Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said Hamid Abdulbasar alias Kasir Ibrahim, 31; Nasir Hapilon, 40; Jumadil Abdulhan, 25; and Julpikar Abdulbasar, 24, were captured in a raid in their seaside hideout in Barangay Rio Hondo following a tip from an informant.

Malabanan said Nasir Hapilon is the elder brother of Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon, one of those wanted by the United States in connection with the abduction and killing of American hostages.

Nasir Hapilon was involved in the kidnapping of 20 tourists from the Dos Palmas resort off Palawan in 2001, he added. It wasn’t clear what the suspects intended to do in Malaysia, but Muslim militants have used the route to slip in and out of the country. — Edith Regalado, Marichu Villanueva, Jaime Laude, Roel Pareño, Christina Mendez