(Update) Abu man in ‘01 kidnapping of ABS-CBN reporter killed in Jolo

A suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf group who allegedly took part in the kidnapping of two television journalists six years ago has been killed by soldiers in a raid in Jolo, Sulu, radio DZBB reported late Friday night. According to the report, the fatality was identified as Abdul Majid alias Jade. The raid on Majid’s safe house in Umbay village Thursday was conducted by the Army’s 35th Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Scout Ranger, according to DZBB reporter Benjie Liwanag. Majid was allegedly one of the Abu Sayyaf militants who kidnapped and held hostage ABS-CBN’s reporter Maan Macapagal and cameraman Val Cuenca in 2001 in Patikul, Sulu, according to the report. Macapagal and Cuenca were on their way home after an interview with the Abu Sayyaf when they were snatched by the group led by Muin Sajiron. Sajiron reportedly defied the Abu Sayyaf safety clearances earlier given by the terrorist group to Macapagal. Earlier in the day, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo directed the military to crush the Philippines' communist insurgency, its Moro separatist rebellion and al-Qaeda-linked terrorism by the time she steps down in 2010. ''If we are to become a first world country, we have to put a stop to their ideological nonsense and their acts once and for all,'' she told a peace and security assembly in central Bohol province. ''I have a specified timeline - in three years - to end armed rebellion in the Philippines,'' she said. The military has launched a massive US-backed offensive against al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists on two southern islands where around 55 troops and dozens of militants have been killed since July. Arroyo said the armed forces ''must evolve a strategy of rapid conclusion to address rebellion.'' She said the government would use ''hard and soft power,'' a combination of military might and efforts to win over rebels through economic development, social services and infrastructure. - GMANews.TV