Decimated by two years of U.S.-backed assaults, the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf is reviving itself as the "Islamic Movement," returning to fundamentalist roots and plotting urban bombings to lure recruits and foreign funding, security officials say. The Muslim extremist group, with a 13-year history of kidnappings-for-ransom and beheadings, appears to be trying to shed its image as a band of criminals and focus more on bold attacks facilitated by radical Islamic converts, authorities told The Associated Press.
| Not just criminals, but Islamic criminals, by Gawd! |
Abu Sayyaf is now trying to attract recruits and funding from foreign Muslim organizations like the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, security officials told AP. "It's like a last hurrah. They want to say they're still around and that they're not irrelevant," Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita told AP.
| Look at me! I'm still Mr. Big!" |
"They don't need an army. It just takes a man to mingle in a crowd, take out a grenade from his pocket and cause trouble," Ermita said. Several former hostages have said many Abu Sayyaf members appear to be peasants motivated more by money than religious convictions, though leaders appear committed to the Muslim separatist agenda. The leader of Abu Sayyaf's main faction, Khadaffy Janjalani, is apparently trying to bring the group back to its religious moorings. Janjalani is reviving the group under its little used, alternative name Al Harakatul Al-Islamiyah - the Islamic Movement - with recruits trained by foreign and Filipino insurgents in guerrilla warfare and urban bombings, say ex-hostages, captured guerrillas and security officials. "They're trying unsuccessfully to shed the bandit tag," said a senior security official, who has monitored the Abu Sayyaf for years. It continues to plan kidnappings, however, to raise money, he said.
| "We'll never forget our roots!" |
Janjalani's faction is based on Basilan and Jolo islands, but has established alleged links with a growing number of radical Muslim converts on the main northern island of Luzon. These northern recruits could use their familiarity and underground connections in the Christian-populated region, including the bustling capital of Manila, to mount attacks, according to a government security report seen by AP. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas arrested last month allegedly belonged to a terror cell that was plotting to bomb the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Manila, malls, passenger ships, an oil depot near the presidential palace, a power plant north of the capital, TV stations, hotels, churches and airports, according to the government document seen by AP. Some of the suspected would-be bombers allegedly told investigators they failed to execute the attacks because they were waiting for operational funds, police officials said.
| Can't go bombing on an empty wallet, you know. |
Janjalani allegedly designated a Filipino emissary to al-Qaida who arranged entry of three Middle Eastern militants in 2001 who trained recruits in explosives and gave $10,000 to Janjalani, the security official said. The emissary, Arshaf Kunting, was arrested in 2001 and turned over to the Philippines, he said. Former hostages reported seeing training in Jolo last year by two Indonesians, believed to be from Jemaah Islamiyah, who taught recruits to make bombs set off by cell phones or alarm clocks. Security officials say one man arrested in the Manila plot got such training. |