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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
More troops deployed to 'finish off' Sayyaf group
By Ulysses Israel and Bong Garcia
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- More than a thousand members of the Philippine Marines will be deployed to augment the existing forces scouring Basilan to track down remnants of the Abu Sayyaf group and other lawless elements, officials said.
About 1,500 soldiers belonging to the Marines led by Colonel Ramiro Alivio will be deployed in Basilan to track down the Abu Sayyaf leader and other lawless elements, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) Spokesman Eugene Batara said.
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday said the Abu Sayyaf lairs are now getting smaller and smaller as the peace and development efforts in Mindanao are continuously gaining ground.
At the same time, Malaysian authorities are on watch for a possible influx of members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), after the Philippines vowed to intensify a United States-backed offensive to finish off the network.
Batara said one of the deployment orders for the Marines moving to Basilan to replace the Philippine Army brigade there is for them to "finish off" the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf that were able to elude the dragnet set up by the military in Sulu.
The 103rd Philippine Army Brigade headed by Colonel Raynard Javier will be pulled out from the island and be transferred to Lanao provinces, he said.
More than 7,000 troops are pursuing the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Indonesia-based terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the hinterland of Sulu.
The Philippine Navy and Coast Guard have also set up a naval blockade around the island.
However, police and military intelligence officials cited reports of sightings of more than 30 Sayyaf gunmen led by Isnilon Hapilon in the town of Lantawan, Basilan.
Hapilon was indicted in the District of Columbia, for his alleged involvement in terror acts against United States nationals and other foreign nationals in the country.
Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said succeeding military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, which he estimated to number a little more than 300 fighting men, would be "ferocious and faster in tempo."
"We'll give them no quarter, we have to hit all the remaining leaders while they're in a crisis," Esperon said.
In Malacañang, the President during the meeting of the Cabinet security cluster, said the peace efforts contributed heavily to the defeat and even death of several Abu Sayyaf members, including its leaders Khaddafy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman.
The President also commended the military, the communities involved as well as foreign allies like the US for the capture and elimination of key figures of the Abu Sayyaf and some Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorists.
"Our military has hit them hard and with success. This is in part due to the fact that their lair is becoming smaller because our grasp on peace in Mindanao and southern Philippines has become wider. The natural outcome of peace is the defeat of extremism and violence perpetrated by these terrorist thugs," she said.
"We salute our troops for their fighting mettle and we generously praise the communities involved," she added.
Arroyo said the victories against the Abu Sayyaf and the JI highlight the success of the joint training and intelligence fusion between the Philippines and the US.
She said the trainings combined with a "program of peace and development, trade and investment that enlarge the space of Philippine security while constricting space for terror and transnational crime" led to the recent achievements in Mindanao.
She added that the Philippines' strategic relationship with the US have always been the leading point for the country's and the regional security and it is more important now "as we push for strong collective security arrangements in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and in East Asia involving the US, China and Japan."
"Our alliance with the US is enveloped in our alliance with all nations in the Asia Pacific for a more prosperous and safer world that can secure the movement of people, goods and technology across border while effectively checking terrorist persons, funds and materiel," Arroyo said.
"This is a high point for global security based on strong and committed alliances to a comprehensive strategy against terror," she added.
Spillover
In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, The Star newspaper quoted Malaysia's army field commander, Lieutenant General Masood Zainal Abidin, as saying that there was "possibly going to be a spillover of the Abu Sayyaf group," and that authorities were monitoring the situation.
"We are well aware of what's happening on the other side," he said in The Star's report.
"There will be a new (Abu Sayyaf) leader. It's just like a plant, which will see its plant growing when broken."
Attacks
Janjalani and his key commanders have been accused of several deadly attacks in the Philippines, including a 2004 bombing that gutted a ferry, killing 116 people in one of Southeast Asia's worst terrorist strikes.
Meanwhile, analysts say the country may have scored a major victory in killing two al-Qaeda-linked militant leaders, but remnants and "sleeper cells" still pose a major threat to regional peace and security.
The deaths of Abu Sayyaf leaders Janjalani and Solaiman left a leadership vacuum in the Muslim militant group, they concur, but did not curb its ability to launch surprise attacks.
"Although it is a significant victory, the threat will persist," said Rohan Gunaratna, an acknowledged al-Qaeda expert at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.
Solaiman was killed in a clash on the southern island of Jolo last week as the government ramped up its offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, while DNA tests confirmed that a body retrieved from a shallow grave was that of Janjalani.
Gunaratna said they were "two highly experienced operational commanders who planned and prepared the most significant attacks in the Philippines." (With reports from AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (January 24, 2007 issue)
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