| Southeast Asia |
| Philippine Rebels Slam RP-Australia Defense Pact |
| 2007-06-04 |
| ZAMBOANGA CITY, 4 June 2007 Communist rebels yesterday criticized President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for agreeing to a security pact that would allow Australian troops to operate in Philippine territory. Arroyo had earlier hailed the defense deal, signed by the Philippine and Australian defense ministers last Thursday during her visit to Canberra, saying it would make not just the Philippines but the Southeast Asian region safer and more secure from militants. The Status of Forces Agreement or SOFA is aimed at enhancing military capabilities of both countries in fighting terrorism and transnational crimes, officials said. Arroyo said the defense arrangement, in particular, would allow elite Australian commandos to train local troops to help us fight terrorists lurking in swamps and shadows of remote southern islands. Philippine security officials said militants from neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia had been seeking refuge on Mindanao, protected by rebels fighting to set up a separate Islamic state. Gregorio Rosal, spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and head of the partys military wing New Peoples Army (NPA), said the agreement furthers foreign military intervention in the Philippines. With the Philippine-Australia SOFA, we can expect closer and more sinister coordination between US and Australian troops in the Philippines in carrying out combat, reconnaissance, espionage and other military activities in violation of Philippine sovereignty, Rosal said. He said the SOFA is similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement between the United States and the Philippine governments. Through the VFA, the American military has been able to permanently deploy a significant number of combat troops, reconnaissance forces, intelligence operatives and other open and covert interventionist forces in Philippine territory. US forces in the Philippines have also maintained a practically permanent base of operations in Zamboanga City, Rosal said, referring to the key southern port city that is home to the largest military establishment in Mindanao. Zamboanga City is also host to a huge number of American soldiers and communications bases. Rosal also cited Australias all-out support for the so-called US interventionist wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Communist rebels have previously threatened to attack US targets in the Philippines. With the signing of the SOFA, Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the Philippines is to receive 28 patrol craft worth some four million dollars from Australia. The boats would be used to patrol Mindanaos huge marshlands, used by rebels and terrorists as a springboard to launch terror attacks. Aside from the patrol boats, Australia would also spend A$4 million dollars each year to train Filipino troops in anti-terrorism warfare. Arroyo said the SOFA would help to professionalize the Philippine military through training and advanced education along with the vital contribution of special sea craft to help fight terrorism. Like the Philippines, Australia has felt the lash of terrorism on its citizens. By working together on a regional basis, we hope to make our country and the entire region safer and more secure for our God-fearing people, she said. The Philippines is also working for a similar military cooperation with Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. Manila is currently holding joint anti-terrorism training with the United States off the Sulu Archipelago. |
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| Southeast Asia |
| JI member was an Abu Sayyaf bomb trainer |
| 2005-03-23 |
| HE LOOKED young enough to pass for a teenager. And nothing in his lean frame suggested he was what the military portrayed him to be: a man who trained terror bombers. A faint hint of a smile even crossed Rohmat's face when the Armed Forces yesterday presented the Indonesian -- hands bound in cuffs -- to the media, saying he helped plan with the Abu Sayyaf Group leaders the Valentine's Day bombings in Makati City. Intelligence officials said Rohmat trained the Abu Sayyaf in bomb making, particularly the use of mobile phones to trigger explosions. Like many Indonesians, Rohmat goes by one name only. Linked to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia, including the 2002 bombings at Indonesia's Bali resort, which killed nearly 200 people. "He is a big fish," Armed Forces public information chief Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said. "He was responsible for training the people involved in the Makati attack." A military statement said Rohmat -- also known by the aliases "Zaki," Hamdan and Akil -- had admitted a mouthful to investigators: ⢠He was present when the ASG leaders planned the Feb. 14 bombings in Makati, General Santos City and Davao City, which killed eight people and wounded more than 150;If what Rohmat said was true, it would belie earlier military reports that Janjalani had been killed in a military bombing in Maguindanao province last year. Only 25 years old, Rohmat was the liaison officer with the ASG of the Southeast Asian regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, the military statement said. Tall and slim, he carried a deep scar on the right side of his mouth -- the only visible mark in his face that jarred with his boyish looks. He and a Filipino companion were arrested at a military checkpoint in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, last March 16 while on board a motorcycle, the military said. Soldiers became suspicious of him because he could not speak Tagalog well. Rohmat was the latest of a number of Indonesian militants arrested in the country in recent years for alleged involvement with JI. They included three Indonesians who, along with an ASG member, were arrested in Zamboanga last Dec. 14. The top JI operative in the country, Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi, was killed in North Cotabato province in 2003 after escaping from a Camp Crame detention center. "With Zaki's capture, the Philippine government dealt another serious blow to the JI's and the ASG's financial linkages, operational capability and organizational morale," declared Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan as the Indonesian stood behind him. "It was revealed by our suspect Zaki that he was present during the planning of the bombing. Charges that will be filed are now being prepared," Adan said. When pressed by reporters, Adan could not elaborate on the alleged bomb conspiracy. "The name Zaki has been appearing in our various investigations of captured personalities," he said. "It is very possible that he is involved in the other atrocities or operations of the Abu Sayyaf in the previous years." Authorities said Rohmat illegally entered the country through Zamboanga City in January 2000. He told investigators that he was appointed by a JI leader named Zulkifly, a top regional terror suspect arrested in Malaysia two years ago, as liaison officer with the ASG, Adan said in a statement. Adan said Rohmat trained in the MILF's Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao and, when it was overrun by government forces in 2000, Rohmat's group moved to Camp Jabal Quba in Butig town, Lanao del Sur province. There he finished top of his "class" in October 2002 and the following year began training ASG members on explosives in Patikul, Jolo, Sulu. Rohmat also told investigators that he was wounded last November in an air raid in Datu Piang town but was sheltered by some elements of the MILF's 105th Base Command while he recuperated, the military said. Authorities immediately cleared the MILF of links to the JI. "The involvement of the MILF here is never on an organizational basis. Certain members may now and then cooperate, never the organization," Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said. On the other hand, he said, the "tactical alliance between the Abu Sayyaf and JI has shown itself several times in the past." Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez said he issued a "mission order" against Rohmat last March 13 based on Army intelligence reports. The mission order empowers immigration agents to detain a suspected illegal alien. Fernandez said it was only during Rohmat's interrogation that the latter confessed his true identity. He said the Indonesian would undergo deportation proceedings for being an undesirable alien but only after criminal charges against him were resolved. Malacañang commended the military and the Bureau of Immigration for Rohmat's arrest. "The Philippines is doing its share in fighting terrorism in this part of the world and we will continue to work with our neighbors in seeing to it that the threat is contained," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said. Bunye said the government drive against terrorism had nothing to do with religion. "Religious faith is never an issue in our campaign against terrorism," Bunye said. "This is a matter of enforcing the rule of law among all, regardless of creed, ethnic origin or social station." Bunye added: "We have to deal with the bad eggs hiding under the cloak of religion to foment terrorist goals." |
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