Jolo resto owner abducted

JOLO, Sulu — Four suspected members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf kidnapped a restaurant owner in this capital town’s downtown area yesterday, police said.

Four men wielding assault rifles burst into the Top Spot restaurant before dawn and seized the owner, Renato Yanga, 44, forcing him into a van and then fleeing, said Inspector Abdulmutalib Hamid Hadjula, deputy police chief.

Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, the military’s Sulu chief and head of Task Force Comet, said the kidnappers escaped toward Barangay Taglibi in Patikul town, known to be a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron.

Dema-ala said they were still determining if the Abu Sayyaf was, indeed, responsible for the abduction, adding that probers were looking into all possible motives.

Military intelligence sources said the kidnappers are believed led by Abu Solomon Isah, a member of the Abu Sayyaf which is feared for kidnapping Christians and foreigners in the South for over a decade.

The victim’s wife, Annie Yanga, said she did not think her husband had any enemies, adding that there had been no ransom demand yet.

The victim is a first cousin of Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga, police chief of Zamboanga City, where numerous Abu Sayyaf have been arrested.

Police chief Yanga has been informed of the kidnapping, Hadjula said.

Military checkpoints have been established around the area where the kidnappers are believed to have fled, Hadjula added.

The Abu Sayyaf has been linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda terror network and has been involved in the worst terror attacks in the Philippines, including kidnappings and bomb attacks on Christians and foreigners. — Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe and AFP