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| Southeast Asia |
| Bad Guys forming alliance in the Philippines |
| 2005-03-13 |
| The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf has forged alliances with local bandits and militants other than al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, widening its reach and making it more lethal despite battle setbacks, officials said. The cooperation has allowed militants to undergo joint terror training in the southern Philippines, share resources and combatants, and provide refuge to guerrillas on the run, according to officials and security documents. Such collusion was shown in the Feb. 14 bombing of a bus that killed four people in Manila's financial district. The Abu Sayyaf collaborated with Muslim converts to carry out the attack, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Valentine's Day assault was one of three almost-simultaneous bombings that killed eight people and injured more than 100 in Manila and two southern cities. An Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Sulaiman, said the attacks were to avenge military operations against Muslim guerrillas on southern Jolo island. "This indicates they could now launch nationally coordinated attacks," said Rodolfo Mendoza, a police official with extensive knowledge of Islamic militant groups. Aside from known ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, the Abu Sayyaf has forged alliances with the Rajah Solaiman Movement, comprising Christian converts to Islam; the kidnap-for-ransom gang Abu Sofia; hard-line members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, known as MILF, and gunmen loyal to jailed Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari, Mendoza and other officials said. Abu Sofia gunmen, based in the central region of southern Mindanao island, have given refuge to Abu Sayyaf guerrilla leaders Khaddafy Janjalani and Isnilon Hapilon and their followers after military offensives displaced them three years ago from southern Basilan island, military officials said. A police intelligence report said the Abu Sayyaf plotted bombings and kidnappings with Muslim converts based in Luzon. The converts also have sheltered Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in Manila and outlying provinces, the report said. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas led by Janjalani have received sanctuary and bomb-making and combat training in MILF strongholds, military officials said. The MILF is engaged in sporadic peace talks with the government and officially denies links to the Abu Sayyaf. Several commanders of the Abu Sayyaf, the MILF and Misuari's followers met last year near the southern town of Siocon to discuss tactical cooperation and unspecified joint plans, said a senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Abu Sayyaf's links with the MILF have incensed military officials. They say Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have sought cover in MILF lairs, knowing that the military finds it difficult to attack those areas because of a truce agreement and peace talks between the MILF and the government. Security officials differ in their analysis of alliances between the Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups, with most saying they were on a "tactical or operational level." Government officials have acknowledged the links but were unclear on their depth. "There are new groups that are coming in and being recruited by the Abu Sayyaf, like this Balik Islam (Muslim convert) group," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman, Silvestre Afable, said. "I don't really know the nature of this phenomenon, but I think it makes it dangerous," he said. Mendoza said statements from captured rebels indicate the groups formed a formal coalition two to three years ago. Though the government says the group is a spent force with about 300 gunmen on the run most of the time, officials acknowledge it remains lethal. Authorities have said the rebels, employing Muslim converts, were behind a bomb attack that set a popular ferry ablaze last year, killing more than 100 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |