Philippines arrests ‘Islamist’

MANILA: Philippine police have arrested a suspected Islamist militant who allegedly helped guard a group of tourists kidnapped in 2001 including an American missionary who was later killed, the justice department said on Monday.

Hood Abdullah is accused of guarding hostages including US citizen Martin Burnham, who was killed and his wife wounded in the crossfire during a botched military rescue attempt in June 2002.

Abdullah was a member of Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda-linked group blamed for the archipelago’s deadliest bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings in recent decades, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said.

"Burnham, an American hostage, was always handcuffed to Abdullah... especially on the move," Aguirre told reporters. Burnham died 13 months after Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped a group of 20 tourists at an upscale western Philippine resort, including the Burnhams and another American, who was later beheaded.