[Inquirer] The suspected leader of a kidnap-for-ransom gang behind the abduction of an Irish priest and an Australian ex-soldier was gunned down by security forces Sunday. Waning Abdusalam was killed after he resisted arrest by a combined military and police team. The suspect was killed in Zamboanga Sibugay province.Maj. Filemon Tan said Abdusalam was implicated in the kidnapping for ransom of numerous people in Mindanao, including three Filipino teachers in 2009, Irish missionary Father Michael Sinnott, also in 2009, and Australian Warren Rodwell in 2011.
While Sinnott was released after about a month with the help of a larger Muslim militant group, Rodwell spent 15 months as a hostage and was only freed after ransom was paid.
Other sources describe Waning Abdusalam as a former Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander who was later disowned by the group.