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| Southeast Asia |
| Tawi-Tawi politicians linked to kidnapping |
| 2004-06-09 |
| THE military is looking into the possibility that some politicians in Tawi-Tawi may be involved in the kidnap-for-ransom activities, following the discovery of a barangay chief and his brother, who were allegedly providing protection to a suspected group of Abu Sayyaf kidnapers in the village of Mag-Saggad, Panglima Sugala, in the town of Bato-Bato, Monday. Naval Task force 62 Commander Navy Capt. Feliciano Angue, revealed that marine troops, backed up by the police, scoured the village, where they found its chieftain identified as Nasser Dammang on the side of the armed group that engaged his forces in nearly an hour of firefight. Angue said Dammang’s brother identified as Barly Galib was captured during the encounter that started at 3:55 pm and lasted up to 4:45 pm, resulting to one death on the side of the armed elements, who withdrew to the forests after they were completely overpowered by the troops. Angue disclosed that Dammang and Galib are brothers of the out-going vice mayor of the place. "He (Dammang) knows his brother’s involvement with the kidnap-for-Ransom Group (KRG), and he may even be involved with the same group," Angue bared. Angue said it is "very probable" that certain politicians in the area are involved in the activities attributed to the Abu Sayyaff terrorist group operating in the archipelago, including the recent kidnapping of Indonesian tugboat skipper Sam Walter Pel and his two Malaysian crew Wong Sien Nung and Toh Chien Tiong. During the latest operation, troops claimed one casualty on the side of the armed group while no one suffered on their side. Recovered from the fleeing armed group were an M-16 rifle with magazine and ammo, a .45 Caliber pistol with its magazine and ammo, an M-79 grenade launcher with ammo and two Icom Hand-held radios. The body of the slain suspected bandit was retrieved by his relatives. Angue said their massive search and rescue operation for the three hostages being held captive by the suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnapers will expand to other areas of the archipelago after a search in their suspected initial hideout in the small islands of Mapun and Turtle in Taganak yielded negative results. "Our continuous operation will intensify until we can wipe out the lawless elements and save the three hostages from their hands," Angue vowed. In their first massive assault against the outlaws in the Tawi-Tawi, three suspected kidnapers were killed while seven others were captured. The seven were turned over to the police in the province and are presently facing kidnapping charges, according to Angue. In the said offensive, back-up air force planes sunk two speedboats of the lawless band, resulting to undetermined others believed to have perished, according to an earlier report reaching the Southern Command from Angue. The seven suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits had said during the tactical interrogation that they were simple agar-agar growers in the area. But Angue countered they have strong evidence to prove otherwise. The outlaws occupied the villagers’ still-houses in Umapuy and converted them as their bunkhouses. Angue, however, denied reports that the houses were destroyed during the assault. "We inspected the area and their houses are untouched. In fact, they have already returned to their respective places," Angue said. The three Asian sailors were seized in the high seas of the border between Sabah, Malaysian and Tawi-Tawi on April 11, while their tugboat Ocean 2 was towing a barge loaded with pebbles intended to Solomon Island, in Malaysia, when 10 heavily armed men on board their fast craft intercepted them and headed towards Tawi-Tawi with their victims. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |