| Ghalib Andang | Ghalib Andang | Abu Sayyaf | Southeast Asia | 20031229 |
| Southeast Asia |
| Wanted Abu Sayyaf terrorist nabbed in Zamboanga |
| 2012-03-23 |
 Philippine security forces arrested a member of Abu Sayyaf in Zamboanga City in Mindanao before noon today. PNP spokesman Agrimero Cruz identified the suspect as Abdulwahab Hamia, alias Amia, 42, who he called one of the most wanted.Cruz said Hamia had arrest warrants for six counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. He said Hamia used to work under Abu Sayyaf commander Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot. |
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| Who were Kosovo, Global and Robot? | |
| 2005-03-16 | |
Andang, better known by his alias Commander Robot, and Sabdula, alias Commander Global, were allegedly involved in a 2000 raid on a Malaysian island resort of Sipadan in which 21 Western and Asian hostages were snatched. Global was also behind a 2001 mass kidnapping of several tourists, including three Americans, from a Palawan resort, among other kidnappings. Limbong, alias Commander Kosovo, was on trial for the Feb. 27, 2004 firebombing of a passenger ferry that claimed more than 100 lives the country's worst terrorist attack as well as the 2001 Palawan kidnapping. Two of three Americans in that Palawan raid were killed while in captivity. One of them was allegedly beheaded by Kosovo. Kosovo was involved in a mass kidnapping of dozens of schoolchildren and teachers in Sumisip, Basilan, in 2000. He was arrested last year along with five other Abu Sayyaf suspects who were allegedly planning a wave of bomb attacks on several civilian targets in Metro Manila. One of them had a list of alleged bombing targets, including the US and Israeli embassies, malls, an oil depot near Malacañang, Manila's airports, Congress, a power plant north of the capital, churches, passenger ships, hotels and television stations. Most of the Abu Sayyaf's kidnappings including the Sipadan and Palawan raids were allegedly planned by Global. He had a P5-million bounty on his head and was considered by security officials to be the Abu Sayyaf's mastermind. Global was arrested in 2002 along with two other Abu Sayyaf members in General Santos City. He was also believed to be the brains behind the 1994 raid on the town of Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur, the Abu Sayyaf's first major attack that put them in the headlines. Fifty-seven people were killed. Police and military sources say Global had contacts with Indonesian Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an alleged bomb maker of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian arm of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. In July 2003, Al-Ghozi escaped undetected from a Camp Crame cell, bringing huge embarrassment to the government. He was killed in a shootout with troops in North Cotabato a few months later that year. Among the three prison uprising leaders, Robot is one of the better known Abu Sayyaf figures because of the The deaths of Robot, Kosovo, and Global have whittled down the number of key Abu Sayyaf figures left for security forces to hunt down among them, Khaddafy Janjalani, Radulan Sahiron and Jainal Sali, alias Abu Solaiman. Sali was in telephone contact with the prison uprising's three leaders, according to state prosecutor Leo Dacera. Last month, Sali went on the radio claiming responsibility for the Valentine's Day bombings that killed 13 people and wounded over 100 in the cities of Davao, General Santos and Makati. "We will find any means to inflict more harm to your people's lives and properties, Allah willing," he said in a statement read over the telephone. "We will not stop until we get justice for the countless Muslim lives and properties that your people have destroyed. May the almighty Allah punish your nation again through our hands." | |
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| Why Was Robot Killed? — It was the CIA | |||
| 2005-03-16 | |||
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| Sayyaf vows dire revenge for comrades slain in assault |
| 2005-03-15 |
| A comrade of the three Abu Sayyaf leaders who were among the 22 detainees killed when police stormed Tuesday a maximum-security jail in Manila to retake the facility from Muslim militants warned of retaliation from the group. Even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo congratulated police for storming the detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig and ending a 29-hour uprising led by the country's most hardened terrorists, an Abu Sayyaf leader chillingly warned of repercussions. "To you people, you don't have to bring the war to Mindanao," self proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sulaiman told radio dzBB, referring to the Muslim homeland in the south where the military has launched offensives against militants. "We will bring it right into your doorstep." The assault on the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center (MMRC) in Taguig lasted one hour and 55 minutes, according to Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes. Aside from the 22 inmates, policeman Abel Peña Arriola, who was hurt in the assault, also died Tuesday, bringing to 28 the number of fatalities in the two-day crisis in the Taguig jail. On Monday, three jail guards and two inmates were killed when a detainee snatched a guard's weapon in a bid to escape and the situation quickly turned into a prolonged standoff with at least 10 of the Abu Sayyaf's top suspects leading the uprising. Secretary Reyes said the Abu Sayyaf leaders killed were Alhamzer Manatad Limbong alias Kumander Kosovo, who led his fellow Abu Sayyaf members in the failed escape bid; Ghalib Andang alias Kumander Robot; and Nadzmie Saabdulah alias Commander Global. Hazdi Daie alias Ka Lando, the group's appointed spokesman, was also killed, said Reyes in a separate interview earlier on Tuesday. It was not known yet if Daie was also an Abu Sayyaf member. National Capital Region Police Director Avelino Razon said the other inmates who died in the assault have not been identified but that most of them were Abu Sayyaf members. The Abu Sayyaf detainees leading the uprising had warned of bombings if there was an assault on the jail. The group, notorious for deadly attacks and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages have been beheaded, claimed responsibility for a trio of nearly simultaneous bombings a month ago in Manila and two other cities that killed eight people and injured 100. "Of course, that's our concern," said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Arturo Lomibao. "We hope there's going to be no retaliatory strikes from our Muslim brothers because they know what happened here. We tried to resolve it peacefully. There's no such thing as persecution or that we are singling them out." |
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| Commander Robot dead with 16 others as Filippino jail stormed | |
| 2005-03-15 | |
 Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum-security jail taken over by al-Qaida-linked suspects, killing at least 17 people in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets, officials said. Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including the two men who headed a botched escape attempt Monday that left five others dead. "We have taken control of all the floors," Metro Manila Police Chief Avelino Razon quoted the ground commander as saying less than an hour after the operation began.Sporadic gunfire continued for an hour as police said they were conducting mop-up operations. At least five officers involved in the assault were wounded. "There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells," said Napoleon Cabrera, a police officer who led one of the assault teams. "Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke," Cabrera said, adding that he got in a firefight with one rebel. "I was hit in the leg. But I know he fell down," Cabrera said. The raid began after authorities gave the inmates a 15-minute deadline to surrender — an ultimatum that came after hours of fruitless negotiations with the inmates. Some detainees were seen scaling down the walls inside the compound as thick smoke billowed out. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties. The inmates had agreed to surrender after their failed jailbreak Monday, but the deal broke down when they demanded food first, prompting civilian negotiators to leave in frustration. The jail has about 425 suspects, including 129 suspected members and leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages were beheaded. Reyes said among the dead Tuesday were three Abu Sayyaf leaders — Alhamzer Manatad Limbong, known as Kosovo; Ghalib Andang, known as Commander Robot; and Nadzmie Sabtulah, alias Commander Global. All three have been accused of involvement in mass kidnappings and other terror acts. Detainee Hazdi Daie, a spokesman for the inmates, also was killed, Reyes said. The identities of the other 13 fatalities were not immediately known, police officials said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called and "said that she is congratulating the forces involved for a job well done, but she lamented" the casualties, Reyes said. "We don't shoot innocent people. They were armed, they fired at us and we fired back," he said. The crisis began when suspected Abu Sayyaf members overpowered and stabbed their guards, then took their pistols and ammunition, Razon said. A shootout ensued. At least three guards and two Abu Sayyaf members were killed in the initial escape attempt, police said. Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by Limbong and Kair Abdul Gapar, a kidnap-for-ransom suspect. Limbong was allegedly involved in a mass kidnapping in 2001-02 that left several hostages — including two Americans — dead, and a ferry bombing a year ago that killed more than 100 people in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack. A number of Abu Sayyaf suspects have escaped from Philippine jails, which are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff. State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who is handling several cases involving the Abu Sayyaf, said jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago from an intercepted mobile phone conversation between Limbong and Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman. "We warned them repeatedly ... as late as last week of the planned escape. Apparently, our warnings were ignored," he said. Two years ago, a top terror suspect, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi, escaped from Manila police headquarters while serving a 12-year term for possession of explosives. He was killed in a shootout with police a few months later. In April, more than 50 inmates, led by suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, used a smuggled pistol to flee from a jail on southern Basilan island. In December, a Filipino suspect who was being interrogated about a bomb found on a bus was fatally shot at a Manila detention center after allegedly killing a guard. | |
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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu Sayyaf leader still evading Filippino troops |
| 2004-11-08 |
 Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafy Janjalani remains slippery as ever after escaping a military dragnet in Sultan Kudarat last month and sneaking back to Basilan, a military official said yesterday. Janjalani has been spotted in Barangay Tabuk, Isabela City in Basilan — the Muslim extremist group's traditional stronghold — where he reportedly paid his parents and relatives a visit late last month, said an Armed Forces official based at the Southern Command (Southcom) in Zamboanga City who asked not to be identified. Apart from Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon, a sub-leader of the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf, was also sighted in the same area, which is now the focus of operations of Southcom personnel.Newly installed Southcom chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza has assured the Armed Forces leadership under Lt. Gen. Efren Abu that they will do their best to capture Janjalani, who has successfully eluded his pursuers since his group launched high-profile kidnappings in 2001. Authorities have accounted for other top commanders of the Abu Sayyaf including its spokesman Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, and Sulu-based leader Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot. Sabaya was killed in an encounter with military forces in June 2002 while Andang was captured in December last year and now languishes in jail as he faces various kidnapping charges before the courts. Hamsiraji Sali, one of Janjalani's top aides, was killed last April in a firefight with the military. Alhamser Manatad Limbong, alias Commander Kosovo, tagged as the one who beheaded American hostage Guillermo Sobero during the 2001 hostage crisis, was arrested with other Abu Sayyaf members last March. |
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| Commander Robot ID'd in court by 2 former hostages |
| 2004-09-24 |
| Two Malaysian former hostages testified in court in Taguig yesterday that a detained Abu Sayyaf commander was the man who led a group that kidnapped 21 people in the Sipadan resort off Borneo island in Malaysia. Police Cpl. Abdul Jawad Sulawat and scuba diving instructor Fong Yin Ken took the witness stand and pointed to Ghalib Andang, better known as "Commander Robot," as among the gunmen who took the captives by boat to Mindanao in April 2000. The policeman also identified four other men among the 28 defendants in the kidnapping of 21 Western tourists and Asians from Sipadan. Andang, said by the military to be a senior leader of the Abu Sayyaf, had to have his left leg amputated after it was shattered in a firefight on the rebel stronghold of Jolo island last December that led to his capture. He sat impassively at his wheelchair with an arm handcuffed to that of a fellow defendant as a lower court heard the testimonies of the Malaysian victims at a heavily guarded police compound at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. Sulawat, who spent 83 days in captivity before being ransomed off, described through an interpreter how the terrified captives endured the boat ride across the Celebes Sea to the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Jolo. Sulawat said the kidnappers were met by up to 1,000 followers armed with assault rifles, mortars and pistols, who informed the captives that they were under Abu Sayyaf custody. Asked why he did not escape, the police officer said: "I was scared of the Abu Sayyaf. They had a lot of weapons and I was not conversant of the area." Fong, who said he recognized only Andang among the defendants, told Judge Erlinda Uy that he spent 119 days in captivity. He said he did not actually see any money change hands between negotiators and his captors, but said the kidnappers' ranks "grew" and they acquired more weaponry as the hostage crisis dragged on. |
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| Jojo nabbed, 90 MILF hard boyz call it quits |
| 2004-09-09 |
| Philippine troops have captured a commander of the Abu Sayaf Muslim extremist group who the military previously claimed it killed in a clash last year, an official said yesterday. Marines arrested Javier Soriano, also known as Jojo Rasul, at his hideout on Monday in Jolo town in southern Sulu province, said Brigadier General Agustin Dema-ala, head of a regional anti-insurgency force. Soriano has been linked to a number of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent band loosely linked to al-Qaida and listed by Washington as a terrorist group. Authorities were offering a 150,000-peso (US$2,600) reward for his capture. Last year, the military said he was slain during a clash with soldiers in Sulu. Captured guerrillas and informants later revealed he survived and led the military to his hideout, Dema-ala said. Soriano, who was being interrogated, has allegedly worked under Ghalib Andang, a senior Abu Sayaf commander captured in December also in Sulu province, about 940 kilometers south of Manila. Authorities have charged Andang with organizing the 2000 kidnapping of 21 people, including 10 Western tourists, from Sipadan island resort in neighboring Malaysia. The hostages were later freed in exchange for large ransoms, reportedly financed by Libya. Andang has denied involvement. U.S.-backed offensives have whittled down the Abu Sayaf from a peak strength of more than 1,000 men in 2001 to about 300 today, the military says. Ninety guerrillas from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front have surrendered to the army in the southern Philippines before peace negotiations, the military said yesterday. The rebels turned themselves in on Monday and handed over a cache of weapons to the 602nd Infantry Brigade in the town of Carmen in the main southern island of Mindanao, the military said in a statement. "The rebels are presently undergoing custodial debriefing," it said. |
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| Grenade explodes in Kidapawan City |
| 2003-12-30 |
| A grenade exploded at a public market in the southern Philippines, injuring one person, a military spokesman said on Tuesday. The blast damaged several wooden stalls selling rice at the public market in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Monday afternoon. Colonel Fredesvindo Covarrubias said authorities were still investigating the attack, which occured despite tightened security for the Christmas holidays. âWe still donât know who was behind the explosion,â he said, adding that no individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Philippine military has been on alert during the holidays to prevent terrorist attacks. Jolo is a stronghold of the Al Qaeda-linked Moslem Abu Sayyaf rebel group, which is blamed for numerous bombings, killings and kidnappings. Earlier in the month, a top leader of the rebel group was captured when he was seriously wounded on both legs during a clash with government soldiers on Jolo. Philippine security forces have been on red alert against possible retaliatory attacks for the capture of Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang, alias |
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| Abu Sayyaf leader Mohammed Said bagged | ||||||||||||
| 2003-12-29 | ||||||||||||
A top Abu Sayyaf commander carrying a P1-million bounty on his head was captured Saturday by the military during a raid on his hideout in Zamboanga City.
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| Filippino soldier killed while disarming a bomb near Jolo | |
| 2003-12-27 | |
One Philippine soldier was killed and another wounded when a crude bomb exploded near an airport in the troubled south of the country, a military official said on Saturday. Philippine Muslim rebels linked to Osama bin Ladenâs al Qaeda network were suspected of planting two bombs, including the one that went off outside a government building near the runway of Jolo airport on Friday. "We are looking at the possibility that the bombs were placed to avenge the arrest of Ghalib Andang," southern command armed forces chief Lieutenant General Roy Kyamko said, referring to a leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
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| AFPâs âmotherâ drops broad hints to the troops |
| 2003-12-19 |
| President Arroyo on Friday reminded the military that she is their âmotherâ and, more important, she raised their salaries. Hi Mom! Thanks for the allowance! Can we have some milk and cookies too? Addressing the troops Friday on the 68th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, the President told them in Pilipino: âAs a mother of the Armed Forces, do not forget, my children, that I am the one responsible for your salary raise.â So mind your mother like a good little boy! Mrs. Arroyo acknowledged the role of the House of Representatives and the Senate in speeding up the passage of the law that increased the militaryâs salary. She appealed to Congress to speed up the passage of another law, thus assuring bigger allowances for soldiers. âAll this is to assure our people that our soldiers are well taken care of so that they can provide security to our peopleâs needs, Mrs. Arroyo has been trying to ease the growing discontent in the military following last Julyâs takeover by junior officers of an apartment building in the business center of Makati City. To this extent the muitny was sucessful in getting momâs attention. The mutinous officers criticized the administration for failing to heed the grievances of the military. The President also announced the release of P30 million to build houses for soldiers. She said the government had spent around P1 billion for supplies and combat pay for soldiers. The President commended Lt. Col. Amin Kandra Undog, who drew up the plan that led to the capture of the Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot on December 7 in Sulu. She also awarded the Distinguished Conduct Star to Capt. Jonathan Obena, who defended a military camp in Maguindanao against an assault by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels three years ago. Better late then never I guess. The President said Obena, who belongs to the Philippine Military Academy Class â95 or the batch the July 27 mutineers came from, should serve as an example to his class and the rest of the Armed Forces. Mrs. Arroyo also saluted the soldiers who held their ground in the face of a fierce attack by MILF guerrillas in Maguindanao earlier this week. At least five soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded Monday night when the rebels ambushed soldiers who were pursuing Pentagon Gang members in Gawang village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao. The government and the milf have declared a cease-fire in preparation for the resumption of peace negotiations in January. And to allow the MILF to reload and resupply. The Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities signed a cease-fire on Tuesday night to stop the fighting in Maguindanao. Abaya, who flew Wednesday to Maguindanao with other top military officials for a close look at the situation there, said the signing of the agreement between the military and the milf has defused the tension. Abaya said that to avoid misencounters with the milf, the milf leadership has agreed to temporarily move its forces out of the militaryâs area of operation |
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