Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Southeast Asia

Two Abu Sayyaf militants arrested in Zamboanga

2018-03-14

[AFP] Philippine police have arrested an Abu Sayyaf rebel who allegedly helped guard a group of tourists kidnapped in 2001, including an American missionary who was later killed. Hood Abdullah is accused of guarding hostages including American citizen Martin Burnham, who was killed and his wife injured in the crossfire during a botched rescue attempt in June 2002. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said, "Burnham, an American hostage, was always handcuffed to Abdullah...especially on the move." Burnham died 13 months after Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped a group of 20 tourists at an upscale western Philippine resort, including the Burnhams and another U.S. citizen, who was later beheaded. While Abdullah did not take part in the resort raid, he guarded the Burnhams when several groups of hostages including the missionary couple were put together in one detention area, Aguirre said. The other hostages were plantation workers and Jehovah's Witnesses — two of whom were rescued and helped to identify Abdullah, the justice secretary added. Abdullah was arrested on February 27 in Zamboanga City, where Aguirre said he was believed to be scouting for fresh victims while working as a motel security guard. On February 28, authorities arrested a second Abu Sayyaf rebel, Jimmy Bla, elsewhere in Zamboanga. Bla owns several powerful motorboats and is believed to have been providing “fast sea transport” to kidnappers.

Link

Southeast Asia

14 Abu Sayyaf in Jug for Life for kidnapping

2007-12-06

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Fourteen Muslim terrorists militants were sentenced to life in prison Thursday for the 2001 kidnapping of a U.S. missionary couple and 18 others in a yearlong jungle ordeal that prompted U.S.-backed offensives against the guerrillas. Gracia Burnham, of Wichita, Kan., survived the captivity, but her husband, Martin, was killed during a military rescue in June 2002. Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., was beheaded by the rebels. Most of the top leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which orchestrated the abductions at a resort island, have been killed in clashes since the trial opened in 2003. Philippine officials have credited the U.S. counterterrorism training that started in 2002 for many of the battlefield successes. "We commend the justice system for showing the rule of law," said Robert Courtney, the U.S. Justice Department's attache at the Manila embassy. He said he would relay the decision to Gracia Burnham. The Burnhams, missionaries for the Florida-based New Tribes Mission, were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary when they were snatched by the Abu Sayyaf at the upscale Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in May 2001, and taken by speedboat to southern Basilan island. The rescue operation left a Filipino nurse dead, and two Filipino security guards from the resort also were beheaded by the terrorists rebels. The other hostages were released or managed to escape. Defendant Toting Hannoh, who was found guilty, struck a defiant note. Asked if this was the end of the Abu Sayyaf, he said: "No, it will become stronger." Out of 85 suspects originally charged with kidnapping, 23 were captured and tried, and 18 appeared in court. Four were acquitted Thursday. Four others were killed in a botched prison break in 2005, and one has been cleared of charges. Out of 85 suspects originally charged with kidnapping, 23 were captured and tried, and 18 appeared in court. Four were acquitted Thursday. Four others were killed in a botched prison break in 2005, and one has been cleared of charges. A year after the resort raid, the U.S. military began sending troops and instructors to train Filipino soldiers in counterterrorism. U.S.-backed offensives had dislodged the terrorists guerrillas from their bases on Basilan, but they have remained a major threat and continued to regroup. Officials estimate their number is down to about 300 terrorists guerrillas from about 1,000 in 2001. The overall leader, Khadaffy Janjalani, was killed last September in fighting on southern Jolo island. His presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, was shot dead in a separate clash earlier this year. Dont'cha just love stories that finish with a happy ending.

Link

Southeast Asia

Daffy doorknob dead

2007-01-20

The leader of the Philippines' most violent Muslim militant group is really most sincerely dead, military chief Hermogenes Esperon said on Saturday. He said U.S. forensic tests on a decomposing body found last month on the island of Jolo have confirmed the dead man was Khaddafy Janjalani, the most wanted man in the country with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head. Janjalani is was on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of most wanted terrorists after being indicted by a U.S. court for the kidnap and killing of American missionary Martin Burnham in 2002. The Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the Philippines' worst terror attack in February 2004 when a bomb crippled a ferry near Manila, killing more than 100 people.

Link

Southeast Asia

Philippines arrests Abu Sayyaf member

2006-04-26

Philippine soldiers arrested a Muslim militant with links to al Qaeda suspected of a series of kidnappings and bombings since 2000 that killed Americans and Filipinos, an army spokesman said on Tuesday. Major Bartolome Bacarro said troops seized Sharie Amiruddin, a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf group, on Monday in Zamboanga City on the southern island of Mindanao. "He was the planner of the Dos Palmas kidnapping," Bacarro told reporters, adding Amiruddin was also blamed for bomb attacks in three southern cities in 2002. In May 2001, a boatload of Abu Sayyaf rebels snatched 20 tourists and workers from the Dos Palmas resort on the western island of Palawan and brought them to the south, where most of them they were held in the jungle for several months. One American tourist, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded by the rebels. Another American, Martin Burnham, was killed during a rescue operation by elite troops and his wife, Gracia, was shot in the leg. The Burnhams, Christian missionaries working in the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, were held for more than a year. Bacarro said Amiruddin had been under surveillance for weeks after the military got information the Abu Sayyaf was plotting to bomb shopping malls and public parks in Zamboanga during Easter holidays earlier this month. The plans were disrupted when the supposed bomb-maker was killed during a raid by police and soldiers on a hideout outside Zamboanga two weeks ago, a senior police intelligence official said. Three days after that raid, security forces stormed another Abu Sayyaf hideout in a Muslim village in Zamboanga, confiscating blasting caps and materials for making crude bombs.

Link

Southeast Asia

Top Abu Sayyaf rebel arrested in Philippines

2006-04-25

MANILA A Muslim militant leader accused of the kidnapping of three US tourists has been arrested in the southern Philippines, the military said on Tuesday. Senior Abu Sayyaf leader Shari Amiruddin, also known as Abu Omar, was “the planner” of the May 2001 kidnappings on the western island resort of Dos Palmas and also took part in “bombing operations” in several southern cities, the military said. He was arrested in the southern city of Zamboanga on Monday by army intelligence agents. An Abu Sayyaf band led by Amiruddin raided the Dos Palmas resort and seized more than a dozen hostages, including the US Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Peru-born California resident Guillermo Sobero. Sobero was beheaded while in captivity while Martin Burnham was shot dead during a rescue attempt in June 2002. His wife Gracia was rescued. The hostages were taken by boat to the jungles of Basilan, a rugged island in the southern Philippines and a rebel stronghold. They were kept in near starvation and moved from camp to camp in shackles as the Abu Sayyaf rebels eluded a massive manhunt that lasted for over a year. The Filipino hostages were freed one by one, allegedly in exchange for ransom. The previous year, the Abu Sayyaf seized 21 European and Asian tourists from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan. All of them were also freed after Libya offered funds for their release. The US State Department considers the Abu Sayyaf a “foreign terrorist organization” which once received funding from Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. The group is also responsible for the worst terrorist attack ever in the Philippines, fire-bombing a passenger ferry off the main island of Luzon in February 2004, killing more than 100 people. Last week, a Singapore-based security analyst said the Abu Sayyaf has been cultivating links with the Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group blamed for the October 2002 and 2005 bombings in Bali, Indonesia.

Link

Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf member captured in the Philippines

2006-03-15

Government soldiers captured a second Abu Sayyaf member in a continuing operation against the al Qaeda-linked terror group, blamed for the spate of bombings and kidnappings of foreigners in the southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday. Major Gamal Hayudini, a spokesman for the Southern Command, said military intelligence agents nabbed Julkaram Hadjail on Monday in Jolo island. "Hadjail is believed to be an ammo and food courier of the Abu Sayyaf. He is now being interrogated," Hayudini said. He did not say if the terror man was carrying weapons when security agents captured him in downtown Jolo town. Fighting also erupted Monday between security and Abu Sayyaf forces in Jolo's Patikul, where Hadjail's group is operating, Hayudini said. "There were no reports of casualties, but troops are pursuing the group of senior Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Jul Asbi Jalmaani," he said. It was unknown if Hadjail's arrest was connected with the clashes. The military earlier announced the capture of senior Abu Sayyaf commander Burham Sali, also known as Commander Abu Sanny, linked to the killings in 2001 of kidnapped US citizens and Filipino hostages in the southern Philippines. Major General Agustin Dema-ala, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said security forces raided an Abu Sayyaf hideout in Facoma village in Parang town in Maguindanao province and arrested Sali, who is facing a string of kidnapping and murder charges in Basilan island. Dema-ala implicated Sali to the killing of Kansas missionary Martin Burnham and California man Guillermo Sobero and several Filipino hostages in Basilan island. Sali escaped a massive military operation in Basilan in 2002 and hid in central Mindanao until security forces tracked him down Sunday. Many of those kidnapped, including Catholic priest Roel Gallardo, were tortured and beheaded, and the women raped by their captors, a military dossier on Sali's group said. Sobero, Burham and his wife Gracia, and 17 other Filipino holiday-goers were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group on May 2001 and brought to Basilan island. Sobero was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf and a year later Martin Burnham died in a US-led military rescue while his wife was wounded.

Link

Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf kidnapper captured

2006-03-14

AN ISLAMIC gunman accused of kidnapping US tourists was arrested in his hideout in Parang town in Mindanao yesterday, the Army chief said. Alleged Abu Sayyaf member Burham Sali was “involved in the kidnapping of the Dos Palmas tourists in 2001,” Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon told reporters. Christian missionary Martin Burnham and fellow US citizen Guillermo Sobero were killed in captivity after Abu Sayyaf bandits raided a resort off Palawan in May 2001 and seized several tourists, including a number of Filipinos. Burnham’s wife and fellow missionary Gracia Burnham was rescued on Mindanao the following year. Sali was also involved in the kidnapping of several schoolteachers on the southern island of Basilan in 2000, Esperon said. Sali was captured by policemen and troops from the 6th Infantry Division led by Maj. Gen. Agustin Dimaala, Esperon said.

Link

Southeast Asia

US labels Mindanao, Sulu Archipelago as terrorist sanctuary

2006-03-10

The United States has tagged Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines as sanctuary and training grounds for terrorists. Navy Admiral William J. Fallon, chief of the US Pacific Command, said the southern Philippines is also a recruiting ground for terrorist organizations. "The southern Philippines, Mindanao, and the Sulu archipelago remain a sanctuary, training, and recruiting ground for terrorist organizations," he told the Senate armed services committee on Wednesday. Fallon said activities by terrorists and their supporters have been centered in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia and that these countries are cooperating with the US. "With the cooperation of those nations, we have been building capacity and strengthening the ability of those countries to resist the activities of the terrorists and to actively seek their capture or demise," he said. He said Southeast Asia remains the command's focal point in the war on terror. He said winning the war on terrorism is his highest priority and to achieve that goal, the command is striving to eliminate the violence that now threatens the people and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. "We continue efforts to create a secure and stable environment," Fallon said. "We have in place key elements to succeed in advancing US security interests and enhancing regional stability -- vibrant alliances, opportunities for new partnerships, combat ready and agile forces, and committed soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to lead our efforts," he said. He said the command is also working to mature joint and combined war fighting capability and readiness. "Fundamental to success in the war on terror and continued stability in the Asia-Pacific region is our joint and combined war fighting capability and readiness," Fallon said. "As virtually every operation and activity is conducted jointly and in concert with allies, it is important that we train to operate more efficiently as a multinational team." Fallon did not say what terrorist groups were operating in the southern Philippines, but Manila previously admitted that dozens of members of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiya, including Dulmatin and Pitono -- who linked to the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, were hiding in Mindanao island. Aside from the Jemaah Islamiya, the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, implicated in the spate of bombings and kidnappings of foreigners in Mindanao, and renegade members of the local Muslim separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front are also active in the southern Philippines. Washington continues to support the Philippines, a key US ally in the so-called global war on terrorism, in fighting the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. The two countries just concluded a joint anti-terrorism drill in the southern island of Jolo, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group. Fallon said the Philippines has taken the lead on initiatives to improve counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries. Just this week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation added the leader of the Abu Sayyaf, Khadaffy Janjalani, and his two lieutenants Totoni Hapilon and Jainal Antel Sali to the Most Wanted Terrorists and Seeking Information-War on Terrorism lists. The FBI said the terrorists are being sought for their alleged involvement in various attacks or planned attacks around the world. Major General Gabriel Habacon, commander of military forces in the southern Philippines, praised the FBI for the inclusion of Janjalani and two senior Abu Sayyaf leaders to its wanted lists and said the Philippines will closely work with US authorities in the so-called war on terror. He said there is an ongoing operation to track down members of the Abu Sayyaf in the southern region, including suspected Jemaah Islamiya militants believed to be hiding in Mindanao island. The FBI said Janjalani, Hapilon and Sali are part of the terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf group, which is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of foreign nationals in the Philippines. Last month, the US Embassy in Manila paid over US$100,000 reward to a Filipino in Zamboanga City who helped authorities capture Abu Sayyaf terrorist Toting Hanno. Hanno was suspected of taking part in the abduction of three American citizens -- Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and Guillermo Sobero -- from the Dos Palmas resort in the central Philippine province of Palawan in May 2001. Sobero was later killed and a year later Martin Burnham died in a US-led military rescue while his wife was wounded. Hanno was arrested in May 2002, but escaped from the Basilan provincial jail a year later. He was recaptured in January last year on an island off Zamboanga. Washington has already paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in rewards for the capture and killings of Abu Sayyaf members and leaders, including about US$359,600 to three men who helped locate Hamsiraji Sali, a key Abu Sayyaf commander who was killed in a clash with government troops in 2004 on Basilan island, about 15 miles south of Zamboanga City.

Link

Southeast Asia

US sanctions and profiles 3 Abu Sayyaf leaders

2005-12-01

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three individuals for their senior leadership roles in the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a notoriously violent separatist group operating in the Southern Philippines. The individuals have supported and/or committed terrorist attacks on behalf of the ASG. The individuals named today, Jainal Antel Sali, Jr., Radulan Sahiron, and Isnilon Totoni Hapilon, were designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224. This action freezes any assets the designees may have located under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits transactions between U.S. persons and the designees. The U.S. and Australia are submitting these three individuals to the United Nations 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to its Consolidated List based on ASG's association with al Qaida and Usama bin Laden. The U.S. Government, through the Department of States Rewards for Justice Campaign, has offered to pay up to 5,000,000 Philippine Pesos (about US $90,910) for the capture of individuals belonging to the ASG, including Sali. Additionally, the Department of Defense's U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) has added Sali, Sahiron and Hapilon to the USPACOM Rewards Program Wanted List as ASG members. The Rewards Program offers up to $200,000 for information leading to the capture of each person. The Philippine Government also has an outstanding reward of 5,000,000 Philippine Pesos for the capture of individuals belonging to the ASG, including Sahiron and Hapilon. Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. AKAs: Abu Solaiman Abu Solayman Apong Solaiman Apung DOB: 1 June 1965 POB: Barangay Lanote, Bliss, Isabele, Basilan, the Philippines Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. has planned and perpetrated several brutal acts of terrorism involving kidnapping U.S. and foreign nationals and bombing civilian targets. In April 2004, Sali helped supervise members of the ASG's Urban Terror Group, concentrated in the Zamboanga Peninsula of the Philippines, for planned bombing activities. Additionally, as of May 2003, Sali reportedly commanded and deployed approximately 20 ASG suicide bombers to Zamboanga City, the Philippines, in preparation for unspecified operations. Philippine authorities filed charges against Sali and two other ASG leaders for their involvement in a series of bombings in October 2002 in Zamboanga City, the Philippines. The bombings occurred at shopping centers and near a restaurant, killing 11 Filipino civilians, an American soldier and wounding more than 200 others. Sali also headed the unit responsible for the October 17, 2002, bombings of two department stores in Zamboanga City. He had instructed five ASG members to bomb targets in the city and helped assemble the bombs detonated by the ASG. In addition, Sali planned the May 2001 Dos Palmas resort kidnapping operation in the Philippines. Sali and eight other ASG members took 20 hostages, including U.S. nationals Martin Burnham, Gracia Burnham, and Guillermo Sobero. During the movement of the hostages in June 2001 by the ASG, two hostages, who were foreign national employees of the resort, were beheaded on Basilan Island. The ASG along with 17 of the hostages then proceeded to a hospital in Lamitan, Basilan Island, the Philippines, where they seized and detained additional hostages. Later in June 2001, the ASG beheaded American national Guillermo Sobero. Sali was the primary negotiator in the ransom demands for the Dos Palmas kidnapping victims, which resulted in the ASG receiving a ransom payment. In January 2002, Sali made statements during a radio interview denouncing the arrival of U.S. military advisors in the Philippines to participate in joint military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines designed to locate and combat the ASG and rescue the hostages. Sali has held several senior positions of influence within the ASG. In February 2005, Sali accompanied ASG leader Khadafi Janjalani and ASG second-in-command Isnilon Hapilon to a meeting with in the Philippines with senior leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an al Qaida-linked terrorist organization operating in Southeast Asia. The JI leaders included a top bombmaker, a JI intelligence officer and a JI member suspected of playing a role in the 2002 Bali bombings. Sali has served as a spokesperson for the ASG, taken part in decision-making meetings among leaders of the group, and was an advisor to ASG leader Khadafi Janjalani. In late 2002, for example, Sali and other ASG leaders met to discuss the possibility of conducting terrorist activities in Davao City, the Philippines. The operations were placed on hold, however, pending receipt of funding for the operations. Radulan Sahiron AKAs: SAHIRON, Radullan SAHIRUN, Radulan SAJIRUN, Radulan Commander Putol DOB: 1955 ALT. DOB: Circa 1952 POB: Kaunayan, Patikul, Jolo Island, the Philippines Radulan Sahiron has perpetrated several brutal acts of terrorism involving bombings of civilians and kidnappings of U.S. and foreign nationals. He ordered the bombings conducted by the ASG on Jolo Island in 2004, as mentioned above, resulting in the death of 11 Filipino civilians and an American serviceman and wounding more than 200 others. The improvised explosive devices used in the bombings were initially assembled at Sahiron's headquarters, Camp Tubig Tuh-Tuh, on Jolo Island. Sahiron was considered to be the key leader of the April 2000 Jolo/Sipadan kidnappings of 21 foreign tourists, including Westerners, Malaysians, and Filipinos, conducted by Sahiron and four other ASG members. Following the June 2002 ASG kidnapping of four hostages from a ship, the MT Singtec Marine 88 vessel, three of the four hostages were turned over to ASG leader Sahiron and held captive. In June 2002, Sahiron promised to end kidnappings on Jolo Island if the ransom was paid. In August 2002, Sahiron received and held four kidnapped women Filipina nationals on Jolo Island. In November 2002, Sahiron demanded 16 million Philippine Pesos (about US $312,195) for the freedom of seven hostages, including the four Filipina women. As of December 2003, Radulan Sahiron had received a total of 35 million Philippine Pesos (about US $636,000) in ransom payments from his participation in kidnappings. Like Sali, Sahiron has held several senior positions of influence within the ASG. As early as 1999, he was one of fourteen members of the ASG's Majlis Shura (consultative council). In mid-2002, he acted as an advisor to ASG leader Khadafi Janjalani. Additionally, Sahiron has held several leadership positions over ASG fighters in the Sulu Archipelago area of the Southern Philippines. From 2000 through 2003, Sahiron was described in various roles, including the leader of the ASG's Putol group, composed of an estimated 100 members operating on Jolo Island in the Sulu area of the Southern Philippines; as the head of the Sulu-based ASG consisting of 18 armed groups; as the ASG Chief of Staff in Sulu; and as the overall ASG commander on Jolo Island with an estimated 1,000 fully-armed followers. Isnilon Totoni Hapilon AKAs: HAPILUN, Isnilon HAPILUN, Isnilun Salahudin Abu Musab Tuan Isnilon DOB: March 18, 1966 ALT DOB: March 10, 1967 POB: Bulanza, Lantawan, Basilan, the Philippines Isnilon Totoni Hapilon has perpetrated several brutal acts of terrorism including kidnappings of U.S. and foreign nationals. In May 2001, Hapilon and other ASG members seized, detained, and transported 20 hostages, including three U.S. nationals, from the Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan Province, the Philippines, on behalf of the ASG. In June 2001, one of the U.S. nationals, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded. Hapilon and the other ASG members moved, hid and marched the hostages through the dense jungles and mountains of Basilan Island, the Philippines. During that time, the ASG took over a church and hospital on Basilan Island and held 200 people hostage, including three Americans from the ASG kidnapping at the Dos Palmas Resort. In August 2000, Jeffrey Schilling, a U.S. citizen, was kidnapped by members of the ASG and held hostage for more than seven months on Jolo Island, the Philippines, by the ASG. In December 2000, Hapilon and 20-armed ASG members guarded a U.S. citizen-hostage who was believed to be Jeffrey Schilling. Schilling was rescued in April 2001. Hapilon has held senior advisory positions of influence within the ASG, including adviser to ASG leader Khadafi Janjalani. Hapilon also served as a deputy or second-in-command to Khadafi Janjalani and commanded certain other members of the ASG. At various times, Hapilon took part in decision-making meetings between and among the leaders of the ASG. Prior to the death of ASG founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani in December 1998, Hapilon was a member of the ASG central committee. Additionally, since 1997, Hapilon has held several positions of operational leadership in the ASG. As of August 2004, Hapilon commanded approximately 70-armed followers. In August 2003, Hapilon and approximately 100 ASG members were present in "Camp Usama," an ASG training camp established in 2002 by Hapilon in the Southern Philippines. In late 1999, Hapilon served as an instructor at an ASG camp where classes included military tactics. As of November 1997, Hapilon was an ASG commander.

Link

Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf financier arrested

2005-11-03

Philippine police arrested the alleged finance officer of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in Baguio City, the northern Philippines on Saturday, local TV reported on Wednesday. Officers of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Wednesday identified the suspect as Amil Flamiano Salih alias Abu Tagalog, who had been responsible for raising funds for Abu Sayyaf and has a reward offer of 20,000 US dollars for his capture,said the report. NCRPO chief deputy director Vidal Querol was quoted earlier as saying that Salih was coordinating with Hilarion Santos alias AmadSantos, who is said to be planning attacks in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. The suspect was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The case is non-bailable,according to Judge Danilo Bucoy of the Regional Trial Court Branch2 of Isabela, Basilan. Salih, 28, was arrested near a mosque in Baguio. He was allegedly involved in the Dos Palmas hostage taking in 2001 when Filipino nurse Deborah Yap was killed, American Guillermo Sobero was beheaded and American missionary Martin Burnham was killed. Salih was reported traveling to Manila whenever he can but now detained at NCRPO in Bicutan.

Link

Southeast Asia

Joint operation launched to capture Janjalani

2005-07-23

American and Philippine military forces have launched a joint operation to capture the leader of Abu Sayyaf, a small terrorist group that has kidnapped scores of people and beheaded several, including one American, United States and Philippine military officials said this week. The operation is in a marshy area on the island of Mindanao, parts of which are controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a separatist group that has been at war with the Philippine government for two decades. Many American officials argue that the Moro group also should be declared a terrorist organization. In a departure from the past, however, the Moro front is allowing the Philippine Army to operate in the region, since the two sides are now in peace talks, the officials said. More important, a brigade of the group's formidable army is helping to block Abu Sayyaf's possible escape routes, said a Philippine general who played a main role in planning the operation. The general added, however, that the Moro group was not aware that American forces were involved in the military operation, or else they would probably not have participated. The general agreed to speak about the operation only on the condition that he not be identified because he was disclosing information that neither the United States nor the Philippine governments wanted known publicly. The current operation to capture the Abu Sayyaf leader, Khaddafy Janjalani, is part of a much larger effort to stop international terrorist organizations from using Mindanao, much of which is covered by dense jungle, for training camps. The Moro group has long denied that it allows terrorist organizations train there. Al Qaeda and its partner in Southeast Asia, Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesia-based organization that carried out the attacks on Bali nightclubs that killed more than 200 people in October 2002, started using Mindanao for a training area in the late 1990's. Philippine military operations to shut down the camps have had only limited success, contrary to the claims of Philippine officials. Islamic recruits are still coming to Mindanao for training, probably 100 or so a year, American, Australian and Philippine officials said this week. Most of the terrorist recruits are Indonesian, and are being sent by Jemaah Islamiyah, which also attacked the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August 2003. An American military official, speaking on the condition that he not be further identified, said that the United States was providing intelligence and communications support for the current operation to capture Mr. Janjalani, and that there were Navy Seal and Army Special Forces units working in the area with the Filipinos. The American forces would not engage in combat, he said. The American military has been operating on Mindanao since early 2002, ostensibly as part of training exercises, but there have been numerous reports that American forces have engaged in combat. Intelligence for this operation and earlier ones is coming from a P3-Orion surveillance aircraft that flies missions from its base in Okinawa, and from small pilotless planes, commonly known as drones, American and Philippine officials said. The American official said the operation had already pinpointed the location of Mr. Janjalani, and said that he could be captured within weeks. The United States has offered a $5 million reward for his capture, but similar hopes in the past that he was about to be captured have been dashed. During an attempt in June 2003 to free Gracia and Martin Burnham, American missionaries who had been kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf, Mr. Burnham was killed. An estimated 80 to 90 American military personnel operate in the southern Philippines, most of them in Army Special Forces units, the American military official said. Villagers and human rights officials have reported that American troops have engaged in combat operations, and that former American soldiers now working under contract to the Pentagon operate there. None of these reports have been confirmed, however, and the Pentagon has repeatedly denied that any Americans are engaged in combat in the Philippines.

Link

Southeast Asia

Philippine soldiers nab Abu Sayyaf member

2005-01-06

Soldiers on Thursday captured an alleged Muslim extremist wanted by the Philippine and U.S. governments over the abduction of 20 people, including three Americans, from a resort nearly four years ago, the military said with evident glee. Toting Hanno, allegedly one of the Abu Sayyaf gunmen who raided the Dos Palmas resort in May 2001, was nabbed early Thursday at his hideout on Sacol island off the southern port city of Zamboanga, said Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas beheaded Californian hostage Guillermo Sobero shortly after the resort raid. Another American captive, Kansas missionary Martin Burnham, died during a military rescue in June 2002. Burnham's wife, Gracia, was injured. Braganza said the United States has offered a US$25,000 reward for Hanno, who faces the death penalty. A civilian informant led soldiers to Hanno's hideout, Braganza said. "For those who continue their nefarious activities, let this be a fair warning: there is no escape," Braganza said.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More