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| Southeast Asia |
| JI planning to target US embassy in Manila |
| 2005-11-22 |
| Civilian intelligence officials said Tuesday that members of the international terror group Jemaah Islamiyah are in Manila to detonate a one-ton "super-bomb" at the US Embassy and other facilities representing US interests. National Security Council (NSC) deputy adviser Victor Mayo and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) director general Cesar Garcia made the revelation when they appeared during the hearing on the proposed P1.05 trillion national budget for 2006, before the House committee on appropriations. Quoting reports from the intelligence community, the two officials told the committee they have information that Indonesian terrorists are coming into the country to stage suicide bombings in areas or facilities connected with the US. They did not say though if their information can be classified as A-1. "The number one threat now is the threat of terrorism. We had reports of Indonesians coming in as suicide bombers to create a 1,000-kilo 'super bomb' and that bomb will be used to attack Manila," Mayo told the committee chaired by Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya Jr. Garcia said there were some suspected foreign terrorists who are already in the country and scouting for places where they could launch their attacks. "The intelligence community intensified its operations and it was a result of this that a suspected safe house of the Rajah Sulaiman Movement (RSM) was raided and the operatives seized some 600 kilos of ammonium nitrate (a bomb-making ingredient)," Garcia said. They said that among the targets of the group include the US Embassy in Manila and other facilities "that represent US interests." Garcia said the RSM is identified with the al Qaeda-linked JI, which was responsible for the Bali and Australian Embassy attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia. Despite the safe house raid, both Mayo and Garcia admitted that the group has not yet been neutralized by authorities. And because of this, it is not impossible that they would really be able to carry out their mission. The two said though that government operatives are doing their best to go after these terrorists. They added that both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are on "heightened alert" in preparation for the country's hosting of the Southeast Asian Games. "Apart from the heightened alert, our security officials have also been coordinating with the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime. They held simulations and they also created various scenarios (for the SEA Games)," Mayo said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 The US Embassy Manila is the second most represented, interagency wise, embassy in the world. Lets hope they are all in the support mode of finding these terrorists so the next report will be of captures, not explosions. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-11-22 13:39 |