Fugitive Gang Leader Aborts Surrender Negotiation in Philippines

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 01, 2002

Fugitive Gang Leader Aborts Surrender Negotiation in Philippines

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Fugitive "Pentagon" kidnap gang leader Faisal Marohombsar has cut off communication with government emissaries negotiating for his surrender in the southern Philippines, a ranking military official said on Thursday.

However, Major General Alberto Braganza, who is leading the negotiations expressed confidence that the fugitive leader of the notorious kidnap gang operating in Central Mindanao would still surrender.

Marohombsar is responsible for the abduction of Italian priest Giuseppi Pierantoni and four Chinese nationals last year.

"He (Marohombsar) doesn't want to talk anymore. He is fearing for his safety despite assurances of the government," Braganza said, adding that the police resumed their manhunt operations for the gang head who is believed to be hiding somewhere in the vicinity of Lanao del Sur and Cotabato provinces in the south.

Braganza, commander of the 7th Infantry Division based in NuevaEcija province in the north, had earlier asked Philippine NationalPolice (PNP) Director General Hermogenes Ebdane to suspend the manhunt operations from Tuesday to Wednesday as Marohombsar was expected to yield during that time.

"I hope he is true to his word.""Everything is in place. His safety and right to due process is guaranteed but of course he will have his day in court and have to face justice, he will have to answer charges leveled against him," he said.

Shortly after his arrest last February, Marohombsar tagged former PNP chief, now Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, as the protector of the Pentagon Group.

Marohombsar bolted from his detention cell with two cohorts at the PNP headquarters in a Manila suburb on June 19, raising suspicions that the escape was done with the help of some police officials.

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