Abu Sayyaf holding kidnapped Jordanian journalist clash with rival group in Philippines

From the Mindanao Examiner (Feb 30): Abu Sayyaf holding kidnapped Jordanian journalist clash with rival group in Philippines

Abu Sayyaf gunmen clashed Sunday with rival group Moro National Liberation Front, a day after the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group freed 2 Filipino assistants of kidnapped Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said a still undetermined number of gunmen were killed in the fighting that erupted in Sulu’s Patikul town where the Abu Sayyaf released Rolando Letrero and Ramelito Vela.

“There were reported sporadic firefight between the MNLF and Abu Sayyaf in isolated areas of Patikul. We have deployed troops to secure neighboring communities to prevent possible spill over of the fighting,” Col. Rodrigo Gregorio, a regional army spokesman, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

The MNLF, headed by Habier Malik, had previously demanded the release of all Abu Sayyaf hostages, but the group flatly rejected the demanded.

Atyani, Al Arabiya’s Pakistan bureau chief, has gone inside camps of the MNLF and Abu Sayyaf along with his two Filipino assistants on June 12 after an emissary fetched them at their hostel in Jolo town.

Police said the freed Filipinos tried to get a ferry for Zamboanga City, but failed and instead went to a small hotel. Policemen only learned the release of Letrero and Vela after their families informed authorities in Manila of their freedom.

Security forces tracked down the duo and brought them to hospital in Jolo town for medical examination, according to Chief Supt. Noel delos Reyes, the regional police chief.

“They are okay and are being taken care of at the hospital and would soon return to their family in Manila,” he said.

It was unknown whether ransoms had been paid for the release of the Filipinos, but the Abu Sayyaf originally demanded $3 million for the freedom of Atyani’s group.

There was a military intelligence report saying that Atyani was also freed, but no officials would confirm it.

Last year, a senior military commander Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, the deputy commander of naval forces in southern Philippines, and head of the Task Force Sulu, was relieved from his duty a day after he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner that they would arrest Atyani as soon as he is freed and charge him for espionage.

He was quoted as saying that the military is investigating the true intention of Atyani’s clandestine interview with terror leaders.

But Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda denied the report which was also published by The Manila Times, adding Cenabre also denied giving a statement with the Mindanao Examiner regarding initiatives in arresting Atyani and charging him with espionage.

Military and police said Atyani’s group arrived in Sulu on June 11 and went to the Abu Sayyaf the next day to secretly interview terror leaders and other rebel commanders, including Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding on the island.

The Jordanian journalist had made prior arrangement with the Abu Sayyaf to film a documentary about the terror group. Authorities said Atyani also deceived local officials after he claimed to be filming government projects in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

Atyani, who had previously interviewed al-Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan months before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, contacted his colleagues to say that they are being held against their will.

Provincial officials had repeatedly warned Atyani against interviewing the Abu Sayyaf, but the trio went ahead and secretly met with terrorist leaders, among them Nadzmie Alih. They were first reported missing after failing to return to their hostel in Jolo town, but phoned local officials two days later to say that they were still filming a documentary on the Abu Sayyaf.

Jordan insisted the trio was kidnapped, but Philippine authorities denied this and said Atyani’s group went to meet with terrorists on their own volition and despite being prevented by the police and military.

The military’s Western Mindanao Command said Atyani had previously filmed in secret the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding at least 5 foreigners kidnapped separately in southern Philippines.

 http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20130202223022