ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two Abu Sayyaf surrenderees claimed to have met Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek in the jungles of Sulu, the military said yesterday.
Col. Eugenio Clemen, 3rd Marine Brigade commander, said sub-leader Hadjili Hari alias Doh, 52, and his son-in-law Faizal Dali, 24, told military intelligence JI and Abu Sayyaf commanders have been mobile to avoid encounters with troops.
Hari and Dali surrendered two firearms to the Marines, he added.
The information from Hari, a former Moro National Liberation Front member recruited by Abu Sayyaf commander Radullan Sahiron in 2001, was the first indication that Dulmatin is still alive since he was reported to have been killed late last year after his alleged remains were recovered in Tawi-Tawi.
A sample of the remains subjected to DNA testing yielded no conclusive evidence that these were Dulmatin’s.
Hari, in the military’s wanted list since 2005, took Dali in 2006 to serve as lookout in transporting provisions for the Abu Sayyaf.
Dali is the brother of a certain Nasser Dali, also a former Abu Sayyaf terrorist, who surrendered to the Marines in 1998.
Negotiators want proof of life
Negotiators seeking the release of two community workers held hostage in Basilan are asking the kidnappers for “proof of life” of their victims, according to military sources.
The Basilan Crisis Management Committee and Fr. Angel Calvo have not revealed details of their effort to free Esperanza Hupida, program director of the Nagdilaab Foundation Inc. (NFI), and community worker Millet Mendoza.
The crisis management team said no contact has been made to open negotiations for the victims’ release.
Fr. Calvo, president of NFI, a local non-government and non-profit organization, also said no contact has been established with the kidnappers.
The two women were among five people snatched by suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Barangay Kabangalan, Tipo-Tipo last Sept. 15.
The three other captives were released hours later without ransom.
Basilan police provincial director Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar said the negotiating team has not released information or any update “to avoid getting burned.”
However, a military source said the negotiators sent by the crisis management committee have asked the kidnappers, believed to be led by Puruji Indama and Nurhassan Jamiri, to show proof of life.
Tipo-Tipo town administrator Alton Angeles said there have been sightings of the hostages at Barangay Limbutas, but the victims and their captors were mobile.
Tipo-Tipo officials have also been trying to convince the kidnappers to free the hostages, who are now on their ninth day of captivity, he added.
It is just a matter of time before the kidnappers would be convinced to free their hostages, Angeles, said.