ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 3, 2012) – A senior Philippine military commander was relieved from his duty a day after he said they would arrest a Jordanian journalist filming Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the southern island of Sulu for espionage.
Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, the deputy commander of naval forces in southern Philippines and head of the Task Force Sulu, was transferred to the main marine headquarters in Makati City.
It was not immediately known whether his transfer was connected to his statement that they would arrest Al Arabiya’s Pakistan bureau chief Baker Atyani.
“We will arrest him as soon as he gets out of the Abu Sayyaf – for espionage – and interrogate him about his mission,” Cenabre said, adding the military is investigating the true intention of Atyani’s clandestine interview with terror leaders.
“Atyani is freely moving in the hinterlands with Abu Sayyaf terrorists and we are monitoring the situation,” he said.
But Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda denied the report which was also published by The Manila Times on Sunday and also by the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner on Monday.
“I spoke to (Defense) Secretary (Voltaire) Gazmin and (Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff) General (Jessie) Dellosa and I got a response from the spokesperson. Let me read the response of the spokesperson, AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) spokesperson, and this is Colonel (Arnulfo) Boyet Burgos – Colonel Jose Cenabre denies giving a statement with the Mindanao Examiner regarding initiatives in arresting Jordanian journalist (Baker) Atyani and charging him with espionage.”
“As far as the AFP is concerned, he is safe but in the hands of an armed group. And that’s what the position is. So he has not spoken to…Mr. Cenabre denies giving an interview with…or giving that statement to Mindanao Examiner,” Lacierda said.
The Mindanao Examiner maintained that Cenabre has given a statement to the press about arresting Atyani for espionage. “We would like to put on record that Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, the deputy commander of naval forces in southern Philippines, has spoken to the Mindanao Examiner about the military’s order to arrest Jordanian journalist Baker Abdullah Atyani for espionage,” it said.
“The Mindanao Examiner maintains its highest journalistic standard and integrity to provide its readers – not only in the Philippines, but also from around the world, including respected media firms and news agencies – the truth in all its articles. And as our slogan says: “We write the truth, without fear or favour, to bring you the news and images from the Southern Philippines,” it added.
Atyani has gone inside camps of the Abu Sayyaf along with his two Filipino assistants Rolando Letrero and Ramelito Vela on June 12 after an emissary fetched them at their hostel in Jolo town.
There were also reports in Sulu that Atyani was taken hostage and that militants are demanding huge ransom.
Other reports claimed Atyani was a conduit for the Abu Sayyaf and that the ransom demand was only a cover to hide the flow of funding to the terror group, including Jemaah Islamiya, blamed for the string of attacks and bombings in the Philippines.
Military and police said Atyani arrived in Sulu on June 11 and went to the Abu Sayyaf the next day to secretly interview terror leaders and other rebel commanders, including Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding on the island.
The Jordanian journalist had made prior arrangement with the Abu Sayyaf to film a documentary about the terror group. Authorities said Atyani also deceived local officials after he claimed to be filming government projects in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Atyani, who had previously interviewed al-Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan months before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, contacted his colleagues to say that they are being held against their will.
But Jainab Abdulmajid, a spokeswoman for the Sulu provincial government, said Atyani’s group is interviewing Abu Sayyaf militants. She said they received reports that Atyani’s group are moving from one camp to another along with the Abu Sayyaf militants.
“Atyani is not a hostage and in fact there is no indication that any crime or complaint is evident. The only established fact is that he is freely moving around with the ASG. The AFP also received similar reports from the ground,” Abdulmajid said.
Provincial officials had repeatedly warned Atyani against interviewing the Abu Sayyaf, but the trio went ahead and secretly met with terrorist leaders, among them Nadzmie Alih. They were first reported missing after failing to return to their hostel in Jolo town, but phoned local officials two days later to say that they were still filming a documentary on the Abu Sayyaf.
Jordan insisted the trio was kidnapped, but Robredo and other security officials denied this and said Atyani’s group went to meet with terrorists on their own volition and despite being prevented by the police and military.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command said Atyani had previously filmed in secret the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province. “Atyani had been in and out of Sulu in the past and secretly interviewing terrorist leaders,” said Lt. Col. Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a regional army spokesman. (Mindanao Examiner)
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