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ZAMBOANGA CITY: Military authorities arrested a
suspected Abu Sayyaf militant long wanted for a string of murder and
kidnapping cases in Basilan, officials said Wednesday.
Police originally arrested Al-muadz
Ismael for stealing a motorcycle Tuesday afternoon in the village of
San Rafael in Isabela City, but later found out about his links with
the Abu Sayyaf group that beheaded a kidnapped US tourist, Guillermo
Sobero, almost eight years ago.
Sobero was with American
missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and 17 Filipino
holidaymakers kidnapped in May 2001 by the Abu Sayyaf at the posh
Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province in central Philippines. The
hostages were brought by boat to Basilan Island where the gang
beheaded Sobero a month later.
Officials said they were
investigating Ismael and his role in the Dos Palmas kidnapping and
the killing of Sobero. The alleged executioner of Sobero, Annik
Abbas alias Abu Anik, was captured in Lamitan, Basilan in November
2006, two years after he escaped from prison in the island.
--Al Jacinto
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