ZAMBOANGA CITY, 29 September 2004 — Government troops have captured a suspected militant who was part of a group planning to bomb ferries and public facilities in the south, an army official said yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Agustin Demaala, head of the army’s joint task force hunting Moro rebels in southern island of Jolo, said the man was caught a week ago near a cinema.

He said Abraham Jimdaini was a member of a new group within the militant Abu Sayyaf movement tasked to carry out bomb attacks on domestic ferries, telephone and electricity towers and public areas, such as cinemas and parks.

“It took us a few days to determine his real identity,” Demaala told reporters, explaining the late announcement of the arrest. “He has too many aliases. We have to be very careful we are getting the right guys.”

Investigators also said Jumdaini was a preacher in Jolo, who was also implicated in the kidnapping of 21 mostly Asian and European holidaymakers in the island resort of Sipadan off Sabah in 2001.

But he strongly denied the accusations. “I am just a preacher and I am not a member of the Abu Sayyaf,” he shouted, as soldiers led him to his detention cell after the news conference.

The military said Jumdaini was arrested last week in downtown Jolo after civilians tipped off authorities about his presence.

Officials said Jumdaini joined the Abu Sayyaf in 1992 and worked closely with the group leader Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani until his death in 1998.

In 1999, Jumdaini fled to Jolo and joined the group of captured Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang and Mujib Susukan and was among those who were behind the Sipadan kidnapping. Officials said Jumdaini was also recruiting civilians in Jolo to join the Abu Sayyaf prior to his capture. Two other captured militants, whose names were not disclosed by the military, are currently being interrogated in Jolo, about 950 km south of Manila.

But a security official, who asked not to be named, identified one of the two as Matar Saliling, who also participated in the Sipadan kidnapping and the abduction of 13 Christian preachers in Jolo. He was arrested in Jolo late Friday.

Another official said villagers had killed an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader late Monday in a firefight in Jolo. It was not immediately what triggered the fighting.

The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of the two separatist rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Muslim state in the southern Philippines, but the group had resorted lately to banditry and terrorism and have kidnapped dozens of traders and civilians for ransom in the strife-ridden region.

Shot at Sea

Also in the southern Philippines, three fishermen were wounded when the crew of a trawler opened fire on them at sea off Jolo Island, the victims’ relatives said. Relatives said the attack occurred over the weekend near Tongkil town. One of the three wounded 13-year old boy Remar Abbas.

“We want justice for my son and the others,” the boy’s father Abdullah Abbas told reporters. He said the trawler men attacked them without provocation. He said the volley of gunfire came from the direction of the trawler owned by Leo Fishing Corp., but the town’s Mayor Wahid Saidullah said the firm’s officials denied its workers were involved in the attack.

“They denied involvement in the incident,” Sahidulla said. Another relative Haifa Nasirin sought the help of the authorities to identify the perpetrators and to investigate the fishing firm. “Please help us, these big fishing boats are not respecting the small fishermen anymore. We want justice,” she said.

The southern Philippine sea is a favorite fishing ground for trawlers, but also a dangerous place because of the presence of pirates and rebels operating in Jolo and Tawi-Tawi islands. Most trawlers operators hire armed security guards and government soldiers to escort and protect them against pirate or rebel attacks. (Additional input from agencies)