Philippines says Abu Sayyaf leader killed in clash
Source: Reuters
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Philippine military said on Wednesday that a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf group of militants was killed in a clash with troops at a rebel jungle camp. Abu Sulaiman, one of the top five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, was killed in a gunbattle on Tuesday on the southwestern island of Jolo, military spokesman Major Eugene Batara told reporters. The military had previously said Sulaiman might have been wounded in the clash but Batara said a body found when the fighting subsided turned out to be that of the militant leader. Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, the military said. Sulaiman is among five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf wanted by the United States for the kidnapping of three of its citizens and 17 Filipino tourists from the Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in May 2001. Sulaiman is also believed to be involved in the worst terror attack in the Philippines, the bombing of a passenger ferry off Manila Bay in 2004 that killed at least 200 people. Batara said the military was positive the dead man was Sulaiman, but previous claims by the government of successes against militants have sometimes been exaggerated or erroneous. The U.S. Embassy said it was awaiting confirmation that the dead man was Sulaiman. Late last month, the military said Abu Sayyaf chief Khaddafy Janjalani might have been killed in September and sent tissue from a decomposing body found on Jolo for forensic tests. Results are still awaited. Abu Sayyaf has links to Jemaah Islamiah, which is fighting for a pan-Asian Islamic state, and two Indonesians suspected of carrying out the 2002 Bali bombings are suspected to be also in hiding on Jolo. Earlier this month, a team of Philippine Marines killed six Islamic militants, including an Indonesian, in a sea battle near the island of Tawi-Tawi. The militants were searching for an escape route for leaders from the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah trapped on Jolo, the military said. At least 7,000 soldiers and some U.S. military advisers are on Jolo, a sprawling, mountainous island, to combat the Abu Sayyaf. A major offensive against the group was launched on Aug. 1. Officials say troops have since killed 80 of the 400 or so Abu Sayyaf members on Jolo while 20 soldiers have been killed and 90 wounded.
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