Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit in Dos Palmas kidnapping arrested in Basilan

Published March 6, 2014 9:24am

A suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit implicated in the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping incident was nabbed by government security forces in the southern city of Isabela in Basilan Wednesday afternoon, a police report said.

The report identified the suspect as Kudairik Abdulla alias Abu Saad/Buboy, who was arrested around 1:30 p.m. in Lampingan Island.

The same report described Abdulla as the brother of Abu Sayyaf bandit Bong Abdulla who was killed in the so-called Bicutan siege in 2005 where several inmates, including a number of Abu Sayyaf bandits, engaged law enforcers in a shootout.

Abdulla is said to have married the niece of ranking Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron.

Dos Palmas kidnapping

In late May 2001, the bandits seized local and foreign tourists at the posh Dos Palmas resort in Palawan, including US missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Returning to Basilan, the bandits took local hostages along the way, even escaping a military dragnet in Lamitan in June that same year.

The Dos Palmas hostage-taking drama ended June 2002 when government security forces stormed the bandits' lair in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte. At the time, three remained as hostages — the Burnham couple and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap.

Martin and Ediborah, however, were caught in the crossfire. Gracia survived but sustained a gunshot wound in her leg. — RSJ, GMA News

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