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Thursday, June 26, 2003
Some Sayyafs now in Manila, says Arroyo
MANILA -- A few members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang have been able to slip into Metro Manila and are trying to pass themselves off as ordinary civilians, President Arroyo announced Wednesday.
She immediately ordered security officials to be on heightened alert and called on the public to be vigilant following reports that Abu Sayyaf guerillas were already in the capital.
Arroyo's warning came a day after the military announced the capture of Samir Hakim, an alleged Abu Sayyaf "procurement officer" who was arrested by police at a Manila park earlier this week.
"Abu Sayyaf members have come to hide in Metro Manila, thinking they can get lost in crowd. We must foil their plans by exercising effective community vigilance. Just as we sought out each and every victim of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), let us seek out and report every terrorist in our midst," she said in a statement.
Hakim is believed to be among the original members of the Abu Sayyaf when it was founded in the early 1990s. Police said he was among those who seized three Americans and 17 Filipino tourists from a beach resort in Palawan in 2001.
Two of the US hostages were killed, while the rest were subsequently freed, allegedly after ransom payments, or escaped.
"We are also banking on the cooperation of Muslim community leaders, but every Filipino must be the eyes and ears of our campaign to bring terrorists to justice," Arroyo added.
Possible lairs
After Hakim arrest, Arroyo said the police and the military started keeping an eye on the Abu Sayyaf's "possible lairs in (the) metropolis."
"It's already possible that a number of them have slipped through and the President is calling on all the citizenry to cooperate in our fight versus terrorism," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye told reporters.
Bunye said the public could help by immediately informing their barangay leaders if there are strangers or new and suspicious faces in their areas.
"Both local government officials and the police have been advised of this threat and they're advised to take necessary caution," Bunye said.
Abu Sayyaf gunmen "are really operating practically everywhere," he said, and urged the public to cooperate closely with police "in flushing out these terrorists."
On whether the proposed conduct of military exercises in Sulu is affected by this development, Bunye said no.
He said the lack of a Terms of Reference (TOR) is the only thing that's delaying the conduct of the training exercises, which aims to improve the government's campaign against terrorists. With AFP
(June 26, 2003 issue)
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