Philippine siege city's ex-mayor arrested for rebellion

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) - The former mayor of Marawi City, where pro-Daesh fighters have been holding out against government forces for more than two weeks, has been arrested for rebellion, local media reported Thursday.

Fajad Umpar Salic was arrested at a vehicle checkpoint in Villanueva, a coastal town in Misamis Oriental province on the southern island of Mindanao, on Wednesday evening.

He was detained on suspicion of “rebellion or insurrection”.

The Philippine Star newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying Salic was related by marriage to the Maute family, which leads one of the Daesh-linked groups fighting for control of Marawi City.

He was reported to have acted as an intermediary between the government and brothers Abdullah and Omarkhayyam Maute last year when President Rodrigo Dutertes sought to forge a peace deal with their group.

However, local media said it was unclear as to whether the arrest was linked to the fighting in Marawi City. Salic has denied any role in the attack by the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf on government forces.

The militants launched the attack on May 23 in an attempt to wrest control of Mindanao’s Marawi City and gain a foothold for Daesh in the Philippines.

More than 200 have been killed in the fighting and Duterte has imposed martial law across Mindanao.

Silac’s detention follows the arrest of the Maute brothers’ father Cayamora Maute in Davao City on Tuesday. He was transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa in Manila on Wednesday night.

“It is for security reasons that he was transferred,” Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, deputy commander of Eastern Mindanao Command, told a news conference in Davao City on Thursday.

“He is the patriarch, the head of the Maute clan. He is considered a high-value individual and at the same time high-risk individual also.”