KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (IslamOnline) - Skepticism runs deep in Manila over the killing of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang’s most important man in the waters of Mindanao, Philippines by the army’s special forces Friday, June 21.

The military on Saturday, June 22, said they were sure that Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya (real name Aldam Tilao) was killed in a clash with troops.

However, as the military search for his body entered the third day, many in the Philippines believe he is still alive.

U.S. President George W. Bush and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who congratulated each other over the said killing of Sabaya, were rejoicing on Saturday.

Sabaya was wounded in the encounter and jumped off the boat with three of his men, Reyes said. The Philippines military strongly believes Sabaya did not survive his wounds.

If the death of Sabaya is confirmed, it will be a great victory for the Philippines government that has placed a heavy price on his head.

However, mounting doubts were aired in the local media and coincided with a reported sighting in the southern town of Maluso on Basilan island, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, the Philippine Star newspaper wrote on Monday, June 24.

A military source claimed Sabaya - who has a U.S.$5-million reward on his head - was “seen alive in Maluso and is expected to give a statement in coming days.”

The military command in the southern Philippines said four captured Abu Sayyaf members confessed during interrogation that they saw Sabaya and two other rebels jump off the motorboat to evade the Philippine Navy.

The statements contradicted earlier reports by Special Forces who clashed with Sabaya’s group off the coast of Sibuco town in the southern Zamboanga del Norte region on Friday.

If Sabaya survived the shooting on Friday, another source reckoned the rugged geography and support from some local residents might have helped him return to the rebels’ jungle lair in Basilan, the newspaper said.

Earlier on Friday, Macapagal-Arroyo went on nationwide radio to announce the encounter and the shooting of Sabaya, the Philippine daily newspaper, the Manila Times, reported on Saturday.

Arroyo, who has repeatedly vowed to crush the Abu Sayyaf, congratulated the military. “Terrorists will be hunted down relentlessly wherever they are. They will be given no room to maneuver, to hide or to rest. We will not stop until they are all accounted for,” she said.

Sabaya is the chief spokesman and publicly the most prominent leader of the Abu Sayyaf. He was holding the two American hostages from Texas.

Two weeks ago, U.S. missionary Martin Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last year, were killed in a gunfight between the bandits and troops in Zamboanga del Norte. Burnham’s wife, Gracia, was wounded in the leg but was rescued in the fighting.

About 1,000 U.S. troops, including Special Forces as well as military engineers building roads and airstrips, have been in Basilan since February to train Philippine troops in the battle against the Abu Sayyaf.

Sabaya dared the U.S. to send troops and to confront the Sayyaf on Basilan, saying that the U.S. soldiers were welcomed for a big fight and that they would not survive his troops.

Sabaya is number two in command of the Abu Sayyaf, the reclusive Khadaffy Janjalani, the brother of founder Abdurajak Janjalani who was killed by troops in 1998, leads the group and is the leader of the kidnap gang.

Sabaya and his men, according to military officials, tried to fight off government soldiers at sea as they were being peppered with bullets.