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Thursday, May 26, 2005
Groups dispute military 'terror' triangle claim
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
MILITARY intelligence said Wednesday what they called a "new concern" when it comes to countering terrorist attacks in the country.
"A new concern to Philippine authorities is the possibility of a three-way terrorist arrangement using Abu Sayyaf militants, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) expertise and Christian converts to Islam," their statement to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro Wednesday.
They said there is a group known in the Philippines as "Balik Islam" who are actually converts mostly from northern Luzon and many are associated with the Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement (RSRM).
The intelligence community said there exists a seven-man terrorist cell believed by security forces to be planning new attacks in the Manila area.
They said this even includes a certain RSRM chief Hilarion del Rosario, an Indonesian JI operative, together with some Abu Sayyaf militants.
But a member of the Balik Islam group yesterday sent this text message to this paper: "There is no truth to that intelligence report. They are only doing some recycled black propaganda."
Another Balik Islam member said the military intelligence is "making a mountain out of a mole hill" just to get some funding.
"They have already tagged almost all groups here in Mindanao as terrorists! They have already labeled legitimate groups even those from the media as enemies...na-unsa naman ning military? (what is happening to our military?)," he said.
Operational alliance
Meanwhile, the military intelligence report said that Philippine security services are now on high alert as they now "recognize the possibility of greater terrorist violence."
The reports said that the Abu Sayyaf has a "well-developed training relationship and operational alliance with the Jemaah Islamiyya regional militant network, the client of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda."
"This is now well dug in on the mainland of Mindanao, in addition to its traditional bases on the islands of the Sulu Sea," the report reads.
In February and March, police arrested several Abu Sayyaf members. Gamal Baharan and Abu Khalil Trinidad were arrested on February 22 in Mandaluyong City.
Military reported that these two obeyed orders from Abu Solaiman to carry out the Makati bus bombing. They are charged with multiple murders, multiple attempted murders and illegal possession of explosives.
Abu Sayyaf leaders Khaddafi Janjalani and Abu Solaiman -- and the Indonesian known as Zaki -- are also included in the charges.
On March 16, security forces scored a major success with the arrest of Zaki
himself when the latter was stopped at an army checkpoint in south-central Mindanao while riding on a motorbike.
Zaki better known as Rohmat allegedly said there are more bomb attacks being planned by Khaddafi Janjalani and Abu Solaiman.
Local insurgents
On March 26, Philippine authorities arrested a Palestinian man who also allegedly trained Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
The intelligence identified him as Fawaz Zi Ajjur as security officials suspect he may be an al-Qaeda operative.
Ajjur was arrested in the southern city of Zamboanga after a journey that took him through Russia, Thailand and Malaysia before arriving in the Philippines.
But he was later identified by two of the captured Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as one of the foreign militants who trained them in bomb making near Patikul town on the southern island of Jolo island a few years ago.
Security officials said they suspect Ajjur returned to the Philippines to "further train local insurgents or to take part in an attack."
They said Philippine authorities have been looking for the possible entry of foreign Islamic militants who want to join in the Abu Sayyaf bombing plots.
"The notoriously brutal group has threatened attacks to avenge the deaths of commanders killed in a bungled jailbreak in mid-March," their e-mail reads.
The report said Abu Sayyaf group on Mindanao probably numbers no more than 100 to 200 men but "not large enough to operate without the support of local insurgents."
Explosives specialists
They claimed that Filipino intelligence analysts believe that the group's presence in central Mindanao points to a new training relationship with elements of the JI.
"Indonesian JI operatives clearly operate in Mindanao, most likely in the rugged area south of Butig around Mount Cararao, the area controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front 103rd Base Command," the report said.
"Among those Indonesians are explosives specialists Dulmatin and Abdul Patek, and also brothers Abdul Rahman Ayub and Abdul Rahim Ayub, who earlier operated in Australia," it added.
Military reports said JI training of the Abu Sayyaf in central Mindanao marks the continuation and consolidation of a far less formal relationship that began on Basilan and Jolo islands between 2000 and 2003.
It also disclosed how at that time, captured Abu Sayyaf cadres and escaped hostages reported that Yemeni Arab and Indonesian instructors provided training to terrorist recruits.
"The Yemenis were said to be operating on Basilan in late 2001, while at least two Indonesian JI instructors conducted short training courses at mobile sites on Jolo in late 2002 and early 2003," the report reads.
(May 26, 2005 issue)
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