ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Military officials here disclosed yesterday that intelligence agents are closely monitoring the financial sources of Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Bin Hir who allegedly used US dollars to pay for equipment and other logistics.
Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said Bin Hir is reportedly coddling Zulkipli bin Hir, alias Marwan, a Malaysian member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who is a suspect in the terrorist bombings that killed more than 200 people in Bali, Indonesia in October 2002.
Dolorfino spoke to reporters during awarding ceremonies for the Marines who were wounded last Sunday after an encounter with the Abu Sayyaf group led by Bin Hir in Laminusa island off Siasi town in Sulu, which resulted in the killing of nine bandits.
Troopers from the Marine Battalion Landing Tam 6 (MBLT) captured 11 other Abu Sayyaf members but Bin Hir escaped.
Dolorfino said the military has been tracking down the group of Bin Hir to determine their sources of funds, particularly the dollars.
“Probably the dollars are part of the Sipadan (ransom) or financed by the JI cell,” Dolorfino said.
Abu Sayyaf bandits kidnapped 21 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans and Malaysians, and workers at a dive resort in Sipadan island off Sabah in April 2000. The bandits brought the hostages to Basilan and held them for several months until the Abu Sayyaf were paid millions of dollars in ransom.
The Abu Sayyaf leaders reportedly divided the ransom among themselves then dispersed into various hideouts.
Dolorfino also revealed that Bin Hir’s group had set up a base in Laminusa island, which is strategically located near the Malaysian border.
He said the bandits had used Laminusa as a staging area for the Sipadan kidnapping.
Sgt. Resty Bagares, a member of the Special Operation Platoon (SOP) of the MBLT6, said the Abu Sayyaf base consists of wooden houses on stilts fortified with sandbags like a fortress.
Bagares was shot on his left bicep and was the only government soldier wounded in the raid.
He said the raiding team was surprised by the bandits who were apparently waiting for them and fired at the approaching troops.
The target of the operation was Marwan, a US-trained engineer who carries a $5-million bounty from the US government.
The Marines on board rubber boats landed in Laminusa island and raided a row of houses on stilts by the seashore.
The military has received information that the Abu Sayyaf band of Bin Hir has been coddling Marwan.
The Abu Sayyaf had also protected two other JI members identified as Indonesians Dulmatin and Umar Patek who were also suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings.
The military said Dulmatin was wounded during an encounter in Sulu in 2004 and was reportedly killed, while Patek is still hiding in Sulu.