Notorious Sayyaf leader surrenders to Misuari

A NOTORIOUS Abu Sayyaf leader - Idang Susukan - whose group is behind the series of cross-border kidnappings in Sabah and gruesome attacks on soldiers and beheading of civilians, is reportedly being sheltered by Nur Misuari, chieftain of the Moro National Liberation Front or MNLF, following his surrender.

A photo obtained and published by Malaysia's The Star newspaper shows Nur Misuari shaking hands with notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Idang Susukan following his surrender in Sulu province in April this year. 

Misuari allegedly brought Susukan on Tuesday in Davao City - President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown - to have him fitted with a prosthetic replacement for his left arm, which he lost during a battle with security forces in Sulu province last year, according to an exclusive report by Malaysia’s The Star newspaper.

It said Susukan - who is wanted both by the police and the military for his atrocities - surrendered to Misuari in April this year.

A cropped photo obtained and published by Malaysia's The Star newspaper shows the notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Idang Susukan in Davao City in Southern Philippines. 

But Major Arvin Encinas, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said they have no official confirmation on Susukan’s surrender to Misuari, or his trip to Davao. “We have no confirmation of Susukan’s surrender to Misuari or his reported trip to Davao City. We consider Susukan a wanted man,” Encinas told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

The Star reported that Susukan had been involved in ransom kidnappings in Sabah since 2013 and among his victims were Chinese national Gao Huayun and Filipina Marcy Darawan, who were abducted at Singamata Reef Resort in Semporna waters on April 2, 2014.

And Malaysian Chan Sai Chun, who was snatched from his fish farm in Kampung Sapang in Kunak on June 16,2014, including Sabah restaurateur Thien Nyuk Fan, who were kidnapped from Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on May 14, 2015.

Singapore’s Asia One reported that Susukan was the key kidnapper and executioner of the 39-year old Malaysian engineer Bernard Then, who was beheaded in November 2015. It also said that Susukan is under the refuge of the MNLF.

There was no immediate statement from Misuari or the Duterte administration on Susukan’s surrender or his clandestine trip to Davao. (Mindanao Examiner)

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