The arrest came barely 24 hours after policemen killed an Abu Sayyaf hitman and captured two others in a coastal village in this southern port city.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the suspect, Annik Abbas alias Abu Anek, was nabbed Friday night by military agents posing as civilians.
Abbas was believed to have been involved in the mass kidnapping of students and teachers and in the high profile kidnapping of Dos Palmas tourists — including three Americans — in 2001.
He was also identified by the military as one of the Abu Sayyaf bandits who witnessed the beheading of American Guillermo Sobero over five years ago. Sobero was abducted at Dos Palmas, along with American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.
Abbas was formerly under the command of slain Abu Sayyaf commander Hamsiraji Sali, the military said.
Esperon said the suspect was to be flown to the city for presentation to the media before noon yesterday.
Abbas’ arrest has brought to three the number of Abu Sayyaf bandits captured within a 24-hour period by government forces.
Abbas was on a motorcycle heading towards Tuburan town when captured by elements of the 15th Military Intelligence Company (MICO) in Sitio Burgos, Barangay Colonia in Lamitan.
The suspect is included in the arrest warrant issued by the Basilan Regional Trial Court for kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom.
According to Brig. Gen. Reymundo Ferrer, the Army’s 1st Division chief based in the Zamboanga peninsula, Abbas was apprehended in 2002 but escaped in the mass jailbreak staged by Abu Sayyaf detainees on April 10, 2004.
Over a dozen of the 29 detained Abu Sayyaf bandits who had escaped were killed, and many others were recaptured.— Roel Pareño