PNP: Abu Sayyaf leader arrested in Zamboanga

The Philippine National Police in western Mindanao has revealed the arrest last Friday of a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group identified in the kidnapping and beheading of American Guillermo Sobero in 2001.   A PNP Region 9 report said Alawie Pasihul, also known as Ustadz Asman, was arrested in downtown Zamboanga City on an arrest warrant for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.   A composite team of police and military personnel effected the arrest.   Pasihul is also implicated in the kidnapping of 51 people—schoolchildren, public school teachers and a priest—in Sumisip, Basilan and in the Cabatangan siege in Zamboanga City in 2002. — ELR, GMA News