Suspected terrorist nabbed in Quiapo

A suspected member of the terror group Abu Sayyaf was arrested in a joint military and police anti-terror operation at the vicinity of the Islamic Center in Quiapo, Manila last Friday.

Nabbed by combined agents of the naval intelligence security force and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) was Tammy Imam, alias Alex Cabuatan, 32, a native of Marawi City.

Military records showed that Imam has several pending warrant of arrests issued by courts in Manila and Lanao del Sur for his alleged involvement in various terror activities committed by the Abu Sayyaf in Western Mindanao and in Metro Manila.

Agents from the Naval Intelligence Security Force and the CIDG said the suspect did not resist arrest when they conducted the operation at 3:45 p.m. the other day in the vicinity of the Islamic Center.

The arrest capped years of intelligence monitoring and a case build-up against the suspect, who according to the naval intelligence reports, was usually involved high-profile terrorist acts.

Military reports said the presence of Imam, who assumed another name while in Metro Manila, was uncovered through the assistance of other intelligence units active in going after suspected terrorists.

The suspect is currently undergoing military and police debriefing to determine the purpose of his presence in Metro Manila. The debriefing is being done in the wake of the reported presence of local and foreign terrorists in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Earlier, there were reports that at least six suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) suicide bombers are now in Metro Manila for a planned terror attack.

However, anti-terror agents belied the report, saying that while there were indeed JI members now in the country, they are based in Mindanao.

Military authorities have repeatedly said the movements of the Abu Sayyaf and some JI terrorists are within the Talayan, Maguindanao area.