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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu Sayyaf thug admits getting JI training |
| 2004-08-26 |
| A Philippine official has made it clear that a suspected Abu Sayyaf rebel accused of kidnapping admitted he was trained by Indonesian members of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Nidjal Padjiran's admission was made while he was questioned after his arrest last month in southern Zamboanga city for his alleged role in kidnappings in the southern Philippines, the Philippine Star daily Thursday quoted state prosecutor Peter Medalle as saying. Padjiran said he and other Abu Sayyaf members were trained in bombing and other fighting warfare techniques on southern Jolo island in 2002 by two Indonesian militants belonging to al-Qaeda-linked JI, according to Medalle. However, a handcuffed Padjiran shook his head when asked by reporters Wednesday if he had been trained by JI, the report said, adding that he did acknowledge he was once a member of the Abu Sayyaf. The Philippine military has been told by many former Abu Sayyaf hostages about the terror training in the southern Philippine island of Jolo's jungles, which draw concerns from the United States over reported JI camps in the country's volatile south. Padjiran has been charged for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of six priests in Jolo, Sulu in 2002, outgoing Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said. Two of the hostages were beheaded and the rest escaped. Padjiran allegedly may have also been involved in the 2000 abduction by Abu Sayyaf rebels of 21 mostly Western tourists from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan, and a bomb attack that killed a US soldier and two Filipino civilians in Zamboanga in October 2002. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |