Suspected JI member nabbed in ComVal

(Updated 8:08 p.m.) A suspected member of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah was arrested in Compostela Valley in southern Philippines last Monday, a military official said Wednesday. Capt. Emmanuel Garcia of the Army's 10th Infantry Division said Edgar Malaydan was arrested by police and military operatives along Kilometer 4 in Barangay Casoon in Monkayo town at 7 p.m. Garcia said an informant confirmed to him that Mandaya was a JI member. He, however, corrected his earlier statement that said Malaydan used to be a member of the 105th Base Command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Garcia said the man who recruited Malaydan into JI was the member of the MILF 105th Base Command. He did not identify the supposed recruiter. Authorities have yet to check if there are pending cases against Malaydan, who is currently undergoing tactical interrogation. Authorities tag the JI as the al-Qaeda terror network's arm in the southeast Asian region. It has links with the Abu Sayyaf bandit group. — Mark Dalan Merueñas/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV