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| Southeast Asia |
| Janjalani letter refers to plans to train with JI |
| 2004-09-24 |
| A letter allegedly written by the leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group discusses what appears to be plans for terrorist training with another extremist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, Philippine officials said Thursday. Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaeda's key ally in Southeast Asia, maintains active ties with Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front group of Muslim separatists based in the country's south, according to a confidential terrorism threat assessment. It has been training recruits in the southern Philippines for at least seven years. The one-page letter by Khaddafy Janjalani to another suspected Abu Sayyaf commander, Noor Mohammad Umog, was seized by police in Umog's house in southern Cotabato City shortly after his arrest in 2002. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press. Umog has told investigators that Janjalani's letter was delivered by an Indonesian militant identified only as Zulkipli, who allegedly headed Jemaah Islamiyah's Philippine cell, a government official said on condition of anonymity. Zulkipli met Janjalani on southern Jolo island sometime in 2000, police intelligence officials say. Zulkipli was arrested last year in Malaysia. The official, who investigated Umog, said Janjalani's letter could help prove that the Abu Sayyaf has links with foreign militants, and planned or held terror training with them. It can also be used to strengthen criminal cases against Janjalani. Janjalani told Umog in the letter that he talked with Zulkipli about training, and asked Umog to discuss the costs with the Indonesian militant. Janjalani, who remains at large, was based at the time on southern Basilan island but moved with his armed followers to nearby Jolo island in 2000 to back an Abu Sayyaf faction that had just kidnapped 21 Western tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian dive resort. Janjalani wrote that the Jolo-based Abu Sayyaf rebels reaffirmed his supremacy over them. The hostages were freed in batches after ransom payments, believed to have been financed by Libya. Some later disclosed that they saw at least two Indonesians training Abu Sayyaf recruits in bomb-making and combat skills on Jolo in 2000. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |