Factions within the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front continue to receive funds from the al-Qaeda terrorist organization despite ongoing preparations for the resumption of peace talks with the government, the military said on Thursday.
| My surprise meter didn't budge... |
The report was bolstered by the recent arrest of two suspected al-Qaeda membersâJames Carl Stubbs Jr., also known as Jamil Daud Mujahid, and his brother, Michael Rayâin Cavite province last month. International intelligence reports tagged the two as the financial channels of the al-Qaeda to the Muslim extremist groups in the Philippines. The brothers had been deported to the United States and are at present being interrogated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
| "Hello, Mr. Mujahid. I'm Agent Starchedshirt, with the F.B.I..." |
Mujahid, a Muslim convert, had reportedly met with several leaders of nongovernment organizations suspected as fronts of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. âMujahid and Stubbs were suspected of involvement in the elaborate financial network of al-Qaeda and its counterparts in the country, notably the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and the MILF,â said the Philippine Navy flag officer in command, Vice Adm. Ernesto de Leon. The Armed Forces vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, said it is possible that some factions within the MILF who are not in favor of the peace talks are maintaining links with al-Qaeda. âThis [report] does not speak of the MILF as a whole,â Garcia said.
| Kind of hard to make peace with only part of them, though, isn't it? |
A recent meeting in Davao City by the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, of which Garcia is cochair, showed that a faction of the MILF is against the peace negotiations. âThese are the people that are supporting the cause of other terrorist organizations, local or foreign,â he said. âI sincerely believe that the MILF leadership has nothing to do with terrorism.â
| I sincerely believe you're so full of it that's why your eyes are brown... |
MILF Chair Hashim Salamat, shortly before his death in July, vowed that his organization would reject any means of terrorism to achieve their goal. But Mujahid and Stubbs reportedly were not only in touch with some factions of the MILF. They were also in contact with the couriers of the Abu Sayyaf faction in Basilan province as evidenced by Mujahidâs phone call early this year to the detained Abu Sayyaf leader Ibrahim Sali, which was intercepted by the military.
| "Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers!... Except that." |
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