Philippine Troops Kill Muslim Militant

January 31, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: AP

http://www.syracuse.com/religion/index.ssf?/base/international-26/120178645017130.xml&storylist=syr_religion

A Muslim militant who allegedly gunned down a Roman Catholic priest in a raid on a school in the southern Philippines was killed Thursday in a clash with troops pursuing an Indonesian terror suspect, the military said.

Troops recovered the body of suspected Abu Sayyaf commander Wahab Upao after an hourlong clash in remote Tawi-Tawi province, said marine commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino.

The U.S. government had offered a $160,000 reward for Upao's capture, armed forces spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said.

Upao was wanted for kidnapping and mass abduction, including the 2001 kidnapping of three Americans and 17 other people from the Philippine resort island of Palawan.