Police raids net Sobero murder suspect

MANILA, Philippines, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- In two separate operations Filipino authorities moved in on the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, capturing one member wanted in connection with the beheading of an American.

Police arrested Jumadail Arad while he was on a bus headed for a Manila ferry terminal to catch a boat to Zamboanga City on the western side of the southern and restive Mindanao Island.

Arad is a known member of the Muslim separatist Abu Sayyaf, which the U.S. State Department lists as a terrorist organization. Abu Sayyaf, which means Bearer of the Sword, is linked to the Jemaah Islamiah, a militant group with connections throughout Southeast Asia. The main goal of Abu Sayyaf is independence for Mindanao and Sulu Islands.

Philippines police said they believe Arad was the driver of the speedboat during the kidnapping of around 20 people from the Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, the Philippines' western-most island province, in May 2001.

Among those kidnapped were U.S. Christian missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham and also American tourist, Guillermo Sobero, who was among more than a dozen people beheaded in the assault.

The arrest of Arad, also known as Abu Hurayra and Asim Mang-kabong Absar, comes after a two-month naval intelligence surveillance operation, a report by the national Philippines New Agency stated.

"These bandits may run for a while but they cannot elude arrest forever," Philippines navy Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo told reporters. He said Arad was believed to be on an errand to buy ammunition for Abu Sayyaf group, which is based on Mindanao, the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines.

Arad will be charged with kidnapping and murder, he added.

Abu Sayyaf members killed Sobero, 40, shortly after the kidnapping as a warning to authorities to not pursue them but pay a ransom. Police found his remains in a shallow grave the following October.

During the next year ransoms were paid for the freedom of the majority of hostages, excluding the Burnhams. It wasn't until June 2002 that a raid by the army managed to release the remaining captives. But in the ensuing clash Martin Burnham was shot and Gracia Burnham was wounded in the leg.

Arad is not only a high-ranking member of Abu Sayyaf but is an associate of Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf commander with a $5 million bounty offered by the U.S. government, Philippine navy intelligence officials said.

A report in The Manila Times said military intelligence believes Abu Sayyaf's strength has dropped to fewer than 400 fighters from a high of more than 1,000 in the 1990s. But they are still dangerous. Two soldiers were killed by bombs believed set by Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province on Mindanao last week.

In a separate incident, two leaders of Abu Sayyaf were reportedly among six suspected terrorists killed in a clash with government troops in the province of Sulu Island.

A report in The Philippines Star newspaper said the two Abu Sayyaf members were Albader Parad and Gapor Jundail. Parad is wanted in connection with the kidnapping of Red Cross workers last year.

In a radio interview, Sulu Gov. Abdul Sakur Tan said he believed that the four other people killed were members of a different separatist group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF, which accepted the Philippine government's 1987 offer to create the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in a mostly Muslim region on Mindanao, continues to clash periodically with the army and police. Peace talks and a cease-fire agreement have been signed but the MILF is often still found fighting alongside Abu Sayyaf members.

In particular, MILF attacked government troops in 2005, killing around 23 soldiers.