Sayyaf leader pleads guilty in US for 1995 kidnap

MANILA, Philippines - A founding member of the Abu Sayyaf pleaded guilty on Wednesday to four counts of hostage taking at the US District Court in Washington in connection with the 1995 kidnapping in Mindanao of 16 people, including four US citizens.

Madhatta Haipe, who was extradited to the United States in August 2009, was charged with hostage taking in connection with the kidnapping of 16 Filipinos and Americans, including six children, near Lake Sebu in Mindanao.

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. welcomed the development, saying, “I am pleased to see justice served.”

“I congratulate the Philippine and US law enforcement agencies whose close and relentless collaboration brought about Haipe’s extradition and admission of guilt,” he said.

Thomas said Philippine-US cooperation is essential in the two countries’ common mission of defeating terrorist organizations that harm citizens.

The US Justice Department announced that Haipe,

founding member of Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyyah, also known as the Abu Sayyaf, pleaded guilty in federal court in the District of Columbia to four counts of hostage taking in connection with the 1995 abduction of 16 people.

According to the factual proffer in support of the guilty plea, to which Haipe agreed in court, at the time of the hostage taking, Haipe was serving as the general secretary or second-in-command of the organization, under the Amir.

The Amir of the Abu Sayyaf had directed members to engage in kidnappings for ransom in order to generate funds and to raise public awareness of the group’s purpose.

The US Secretary of State subsequently designated the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization.

Haipe admitted that on Dec. 27, 1995, several armed members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 16 people, including four US citizens, one US permanent resident alien, and 11 Filipinos, in the rugged area around Trankini Falls, near Lake Sebu, in southern Mindanao.

The hostages, including six children, were forced to march up a mountainside. Haipe informed the hostages that they were being kidnapped, and he individually questioned some of the hostages to determine the amount of ransom to be demanded.

Later that same day, Haipe decided to release four of the 16 hostages to allow them to collect ransom totaling P1 million ($38,000 at the time).

Haipe threatened that if the released hostages told anyone about the kidnapping, then the other hostages would be killed. 

Four days later, on Dec. 31, 1995, the Abu Sayyaf members released the remaining hostages after another ransom payment.

“For roughly 15 years, FBI agents, Justice Department prosecutors and authorities in the Philippines relentlessly pursued this matter on behalf of the victims, who were held hostage and threatened with death by this Abu Sayyaf leader. With today’s guilty plea, Mr. Haipe is finally being held accountable for his actions,” said US Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris.

“Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message - we will never tire in our pursuit of justice for those who seek to harm American citizens, whether at home or abroad,” said Ronald Machen Jr., US Attorney for the District of Columbia.

He said the guilty plea demonstrates that there will be serious consequences for those who commit such crimes.

Charlene Thornton, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said the FBI Honolulu Division investigated the matter in close coordination with Philippine authorities for approximately 15 years.

“Through this international cooperation, despite the time and distance, we have managed to bring to justice a defendant who had sought to harm our US citizens abroad,” Thornton said.

Haipe, now 48, was indicted for this crime by a federal grand jury in Washington in November 2000.

Judge Richard Roberts is scheduled to sentence Haipe on Dec. 14. He faces life in prison on each of the four counts to which he pleaded guilty.

As part of the plea agreement, the government may advocate a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. - With AFP