14 April 2017•Update: 15 April 2017
By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Radulan Sahiron, the most senior Abu Sayyaf leader in the southern Philippines province, wishes to surrender, a security official said.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of Western Mindanao Command told Philippine Star that Sahiron wants to turn himself to authorities because "he is already old."
Sahiron, a one-armed bandit, is known as the most senior Abu Sayyaf leader based in Sulu province and wanted by the U.S. Department of Justice for a bounty of $1 million.
Galvez said the surrender plan of Sahiron was passed on by elderly Muslim leaders from Sulu following relentless military offensives.
The militant leader, however, has reportedly set conditions for his surrender, which includes remaining under Philippine authorities' custody.
"Sahiron wants to surrender provided he will not be turned over to the U.S. or other countries," Galvez was quoted as saying.
U.S. interest on Sahiron is believed to have stemmed from his participation in the kidnapping of American national Jeffry Schilling during the late 1990s in Sulu.
Reports of Sahiron's plan came a few days after 11 Abu Sayyaf members from Basilan and Tawi-Tawi surrendered.
The number of militants from the group who surrendered to lawmen already reached 50 since last year.
