Sali Basal Taib: long arm of law catches up after 12 years.
For 12 years after he was alleged to have joined two kidnapping operations in Mindanao, a sub-leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) eluded the law, even becoming an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia. But Sali Basal Taib alias Gong-gong Sali/Abu Husni made the mistake of returning to the country recently, and police pounced on the man with a P5.3-million bounty.
Taib was captured in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City, where he had been under surveillance for days, the Philippine National Police said Monday.
PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac said, “He was arrested on July 25 at 11:35 a.m. in Payatas. He is a native of Lantawan, Basilan.”
Police record showed Taib went into hiding in 2005 and then fled to Metro Manila in 2006 to process his overseas work application. He flew to Saudi Arabia on December 15, 2006, carrying the name Albasher Sali (Albasjer baddin Saleh/Albasher Yakub Sali/Alabasheir Sali) with passport number TT0350802.
Court records showed Taib had warrants for two major abductions: first, for kidnapping and serious illegal detention in the abduction of civilian workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in Barangay Tairan, Lantawan, Basilan on June 11, 2001, for which a warrant was issued by Judge Judge Leo Jay Principe of the Regional Trial Court Branch 1 of Isabela City, Basilan; and second, the abduction of nurses at the Doctor Torres Hospital in Lamitan City, Basilan on June 2, 2001, for which a warrant was issued by Judge Danilo M. Bucoy of RTC Branch 2, also of Isabela City.
Taib’s case folder was furnished to the National Intelligence Coordinating Council (NICA) in early April this year.
The police said: "Taib was last sighted at around 2:30 p.m. on May 11, 2013 in King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia working as electrician/lineman. On the 3rd week of June an informant reported his alleged arrival back in the country. And on the 2nd week of July, an eyeball and the start of case build-up.”
At the time of his arrest, police reports said Taib was “spending vacation in Payatas, actively observing Ramadan, and daily attending worship at the mosque.”
He had planned to spend his Hariraya with his brother and other relatives in Payatas before returning to Saudi Arabia after Ramadan.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/67453/alleged-abu-sub-leader-back-from-ofw-stint-in-saudi-held-for-abductions
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.