Philippines: Abu Sayyaf wanted in resort raid arrested

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

 Philippine authorities have arrested a deputy leader of an al-Qaeda linked group suspected of involvement in a mass kidnapping at a world famous Malaysian resort in 2000 that gained the Abu Sayyaf worldwide notoriety.

Chief Supt. Miguel Antonio, police director of Western Mindanao, said in a statement Wednesday that Ibni Acosta was captured the previous night for 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the abduction on Sipadan island, Sabah state.

The defense and interior departments had placed a P4.3 million ($92,143) reward on Acosta’s head in November 2012.

On April 23, 2000, suspects armed with assault rifles and several rocket-propelled grenades arrived at Sipadan, off the eastern coast of Borneo island, where they kidnapped 21 people, including 10 tourists from Europe and the Middle East.

The hostages were then taken to the Philippines’ southern island of Jolo, Sulu province, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold located around 2oo nautical miles from Sabah, before being freed in following months after the payments of large ransoms.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.

The group gained notoriety in the late 1990s and early 2000s for a daring raid on a resort on the Malaysian oceanic island of Sipadan, from where it snatched 20 tourists, mostly Europeans.