ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police are holding an Abu Sayyaf commander involved in the 2000 kidnapping of 21 European holidaymakers and Asian resort workers in the resort island of Sipadan in Sabah, Malaysia.
Police said the 54-year old Faizal Radjae was captured Friday afternoon in the village of Tumitus. It was unknown how police managed to track down Radjae, but he is facing a string of criminal charges and terrorism in the restive region.
Radjae is currently being interrogated, but details of the investigation were not immediately made available by the police as operation still continue to determine whether the captured militant alone or not, and whether his group was planning to stage attacks ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address next week.
Police did not say if it seized weapons or bombs from Radjae’s hideout. There was no immediate statement from Radjae’s family. The Abu Sayyaf has been fighting for a caliphate in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
20
