Troops have arrested a senior commander of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang in Manila, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Monday. Ibno Alih Ordonez is wanted for murder and several counts of kidnapping, including the abductions of more than 50 Christian students and teachers in the southern island of Basilan in 2001. Several hostages were killed in that incident, including a Catholic priest who was tortured and shot in the head by the gunmen.
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Ordonez was arrested last Thursday in the financial center of Makati, where according to investigation he operates a bus service for an exclusive school, Ermita said. Ordonez is listed as the seventh most wanted Abu Sayyaf leader with a bounty of one million pesos (18,000 dollars). He was formerly a guard at the Basilan provincial jail and was believed to have scouted for potential victims for the Abu Sayyaf. The suspect is also a cousin of Abu Sabaya, the Abu Sayyaf’s notorious spokesman killed in a gunbattle with US-assisted Filipino commandos in 2002. |