[BenarNews] Philippine soldiers have captured two Abu Sayyaf rebels who were a part of a faction involved in a bold cross-border abduction of foreign tourists from a Malaysian resort 18 years ago. The suspects, identified as Dani Suraidi and Amdak Jumah, went with troops willingly when they were picked up near the southern city of Zamboanga on Tuesday, regional police director Billy Beltran said.Suraidi had a standing arrest warrant for kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom in connection with an Abu Sayyaf raid in 2000 on Sipadan, an island resort in Sabah, a state in eastern Malaysia. Beltran said, "We have been looking for him for so long. Suraidi belongs to the group of slain Abu Sayyaf senior leader Albader Parad who then led the abduction."
Beltran said Suraidi was a man trusted by another Abu Sayyaf leader, Alhabsy Misaya, who was killed by troops in a clash last year in Parang town on Jolo island.
Last week, another Abu Sayyaf militant allegedly involved in the Sipadan hostage crisis was killed during a police operation in Tabuan Lasa town, in nearby Basilan province. Mobin Kulin, alias Mulawin, was being arrested by authorities but violently resisted, provincial police commander Nickson Muksan said.