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| Southeast Asia |
| More JI activities in the Philippines ... |
| 2003-12-01 |
| Indonesian militants from the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network are likely to be training Filipino guerrillas in mountainous areas in Mindanao with money allegedly supplied by al-Qaeda, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday. Ermita, quoting military intelligence reports, said the Indonesians were said to be somewhere in the Lanao provinces, and near areas controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest separatist force negotiating peace with the government. "We are closely monitoring these reports because the JI has not ceased training terrorists," Ermita told reporters. "They are looking for an opportunity to sow terror." The 31 Indonesians could be the remnants of a group of Indonesian JI terrorists who infiltrated Mindanao as early as 1999 with the help of bomb expert Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who was killed by Philippine troops in October, Ermita said. He said more information was being gathered on the group, but warned the MILF against providing sanctuary or associating with the Indonesians. "We are reminding the MILF not to give sanctuary... and hope they will turn them over to government so we can account for these foreign terrorists," Ermita said, adding that the Indonesians could have received funds from terrorist cells abroad. Ermita said the foreign terrorists were concentrated in MILF-held territories around Mt. Karanaw in Lanao del Norte and the terrorist-named Mt. Vietnam in Lanao del Sur. He said that the group also recruits locals to train them in bomb-making and other terrorist skills. According to Ermita, intelligence reports indicated that training activities of the group are being supervised by the JI but funded by the al-Qaeda, the international terrorist network that shells out $50,000 monthly for the Philippine-based insurgents. Before his death, Al-Ghozi had told Philippine prosecutors that he and JI operations chief Hambali also helped carry out a string of bombings in Metro Manila in 2000. Al-Ghozi was killed on Oct. 12, three months after escaping from a Manila jail, while Hambali is now in US custody. Ermita urged the public to remain on alert for any attacks that may take place during the holidays in this Roman Catholic country. Speaking at the 140th birth anniversary of the Great Plebeian Andres Bonifacio at Fort Bonifacio in Makati City, the defense chief said the terror group is just waiting for the right time to strike. "Even if two or three of the 31 operatives will strike, this will already create a great disturbance, that is why we are continuously monitoring these JI in Mindanao," he said. He declined to name the terrorists, except to say intelligence was gathering more information and that training cells were composed of 12 members each, mostly Indonesians. The MILF has continued to deny giving training to the JI and other foreign-based terrorists, or vice versa. The 12,500-strong MILF has been waging a 25-year separatist insurgency in Mindanao. It has signed a truce with Manila and peace talks brokered by Malaysia are expected to resume soon. In Zamboanga City, the military said it is verifying the alleged training camps of a JI faction on Jolo island. There have been persistent reports in the Western press that the JI has also set up training camps with the terrorist band Abu Sayyaf. Brig. Gen. Gabriel Habacon of Task Force Comet, a Sulu-based military unit hunting down the Abu Sayyaf, said what they have discovered so far are training camps of the bandit group. "I did not see any trace of JI in my area of responsibility. As of now the camps that are existing in Jolo mainland are of the Abu Sayyaf," Habacon said. "Whether the so-called JI is in Jolo is still subject for our confirmation." But former hostages who were able to escape early this year from their Abu Sayyaf captors confirmed the presence of whom they believed to be Javanese after staying with the bandits for more than a year in captivity. The military could not confirm or deny if these Javanese are JI members. Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, prior to his escape to Sultan Kudarat, was also monitored to have slipped to Sulu in the company of two Yemenis. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |