Mid-level Abu Sayyaf leader, follower surrender in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A mid-level leader of the Abu Sayyaf group and a follower surrendered to the Marine Battalion Landing Team-5 (MBLT-5) in Sulu province. Colonel Eugenio Clemen, chief of the 3rd Marine Brigade, identified the bandits who surrendered as Hadjili Hari alias Doh, 52, and Faizal Dali, 24, his son-in-law. Clemen said the two turned over two Garand rifles when they surrendered last Sunday to the MBLT-5. Clemen said Hari, a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), was recruited to join the Abu Sayyaf group by Radulan Sahiron in 2001. Hari recruited his son-in-law into the Abu Sayyaf group in 2006. The military official said Hari and Sahiron have fought together in previous clashes against Marine troops in Sulu. Dali, on the other hand, has served as look-out in transporting provisions for the Abu Sayyaf group in the province. Dali is the brother of Nasser Dali, also a former Abu Sayyaf member who surrendered to MBLT-9 sometime in 1998. Both Hari and Dali disclosed during the debriefing that they become inactive in the Abu Sayyaf group in the second quarter of last year due to their desire to live and work as ordinary civilians. Hari and Dali revealed that they met several notorious Abu Sayyaf personalities, including Jemaah Islamiyah's Dulmatin and Omar Patek, who were highly mobile. The two informed the marine troops that the Abu Sayyaf usually avoided frontal encounters with government troops and instead employed the basic tactic of hit-and-run. - GMANews.TV