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| Southeast Asia |
| Sayyaf vows dire revenge for comrades slain in assault |
| 2005-03-15 |
| A comrade of the three Abu Sayyaf leaders who were among the 22 detainees killed when police stormed Tuesday a maximum-security jail in Manila to retake the facility from Muslim militants warned of retaliation from the group. Even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo congratulated police for storming the detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig and ending a 29-hour uprising led by the country's most hardened terrorists, an Abu Sayyaf leader chillingly warned of repercussions. "To you people, you don't have to bring the war to Mindanao," self proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sulaiman told radio dzBB, referring to the Muslim homeland in the south where the military has launched offensives against militants. "We will bring it right into your doorstep." The assault on the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center (MMRC) in Taguig lasted one hour and 55 minutes, according to Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes. Aside from the 22 inmates, policeman Abel Peña Arriola, who was hurt in the assault, also died Tuesday, bringing to 28 the number of fatalities in the two-day crisis in the Taguig jail. On Monday, three jail guards and two inmates were killed when a detainee snatched a guard's weapon in a bid to escape and the situation quickly turned into a prolonged standoff with at least 10 of the Abu Sayyaf's top suspects leading the uprising. Secretary Reyes said the Abu Sayyaf leaders killed were Alhamzer Manatad Limbong alias Kumander Kosovo, who led his fellow Abu Sayyaf members in the failed escape bid; Ghalib Andang alias Kumander Robot; and Nadzmie Saabdulah alias Commander Global. Hazdi Daie alias Ka Lando, the group's appointed spokesman, was also killed, said Reyes in a separate interview earlier on Tuesday. It was not known yet if Daie was also an Abu Sayyaf member. National Capital Region Police Director Avelino Razon said the other inmates who died in the assault have not been identified but that most of them were Abu Sayyaf members. The Abu Sayyaf detainees leading the uprising had warned of bombings if there was an assault on the jail. The group, notorious for deadly attacks and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages have been beheaded, claimed responsibility for a trio of nearly simultaneous bombings a month ago in Manila and two other cities that killed eight people and injured 100. "Of course, that's our concern," said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Arturo Lomibao. "We hope there's going to be no retaliatory strikes from our Muslim brothers because they know what happened here. We tried to resolve it peacefully. There's no such thing as persecution or that we are singling them out." |
| Posted by:Steve |