Philippine south training terrorists

The Straits Times ^ | July 14, 2004 | Shefali Rekhi

[bunkerhill7]

Philippine south training terrorists

Radical Muslim groups using alliances with local separatists to train new recruits, says International Crisis Group

By Shefali Rekhi

THE southern Philippines is becoming the hub of terrorist training in South-east Asia, said a report released yesterday by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).

ACADEMY OF TERROR

MORO Islamic Liberation Front members helped the Jemaah Islamiah set up a military academy at Camp Hudaibiyah in Mindanao, which included recruits from Singapore and Malaysia.

Modelled after Afghan terrorist training camps, basic weapons training included use of the .45 calibre, M-1 Garand, M-16, M-14 and 7.62mm FN FAL assault rifles, and M-60, .30 and .50 calibre machine guns.

Basic explosives training covered the handling of TNT, C-4, black powder, ammonium nitrate and RDX, detonating cord and detonators, and more.

To qualify for an officer cadet course spread over three semesters of six months each, men had to be bachelors between the ages of 18 and 23.

They had to hold high school or madrasah degrees 'with decent grades and a mastery of 14 religious subjects'. They also had to have been JI members for at least two years, although selection criteria later became less rigorous, the ICG said.

The academy catered to time-pressed recruits from Singapore and Malaysia by offering short courses of two and four months to them.

Indonesian Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir attended the academy's first graduation ceremony in March or April 2000, the ICG reported.

One of its first batch of graduates was Zulkifli, who played a prominent role in many bombings, including attacks in Davao in March and April last year which killed 38 people. -- Shefali Rekhi

Radical Islamist groups led by the regional Jemaah Islamiah (JI) are using the 'country of convenience' to groom future terrorists, said the non-profit and independent group that monitors areas of conflict or potential conflict worldwide.

It said JI has used its ties with the Moro rebels of the Philippines to train new recruits to replenish its ranks - depleted following the arrests after the Bali attacks.

Some of its members have since tested their skills in bombings in the Philippines, the ICG said in the report, the latest in a series on terrorism in South-east Asia.

Since the mid-1990s, the Philippines has been the primary training ground for JI and a number of like-minded groups seeking to enhance their 'military capacity' amid separatist insurgencies, the ICG said in its report.

It said: 'The lack of state capacity to police borders and movement of people, money and contraband, particularly in the south, continues to make it a country of convenience for lone wolf operators and for cells of various jihadist organisations.'

International terrorism and domestic insurgency could combine into a potent mix. 'This lends new urgency to the quest for peace in Mindanao,' it said.

The ICJ warned that growing links between Muslim separatists and terrorists threaten the ongoing peace talks between the Philippines government and senior leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

'What is not clear at this stage is whether senior MILF leaders are unaware of these links or whether they are lying,' ICG's South-east Asia head Sidney Jones told The Straits Times.

'Either way that does not bode well for the peace process.'

MILF's ties to Al-Qaeda, JI and other jihadist groups were forged in Afghan training camps in the mid-1980s. An Al-Qaeda cell was established in the Philippines in 1991.

MILF-JI links were cemented in 1994 when MILF founder Salamat Hashim agreed to establish a JI-run training camp for MILF recruits, called Camp Hudaibiyah, within the MILF's Camp Abu Bakar in Maguindanao.

Four years later, a military academy was set up there. It continued till July 2000, when the Philippine army overran the camp.

That forced the JI further into the mountains, where it set up Camp Jabal Quba.

Today, the camp on Mount Kararao is at the centre of allegations that the MILF continues to harbour JI terrorists, ICG says.

Its report also highlighted 'flaws' in Manila's counter-terror strategy.

Arrests have been few, despite the presence of top JI men, but worse, some were made on flimsy evidence.

There has also been little effort to communicate the case against JI to the public, who believe the arrests are a ploy to justify measures against the MILF or impose martial law.

The ICG suggests that the Philippine government and MILF leaders implement the agreement for joint cooperation against criminals hiding in the rebel group's areas.

But in due course Manila will have to offer a workable autonomy package in the mainly Muslim south, it said, as 'genuine and fully implemented autonomy for Philippine Muslims' is essential in 'winning the long-term war on terror in Mindanao'.

[bunkerhill7]

getting it from both ends

[Cicero]

The present government in Manila seems to be completely incapable of dealing with the terrorists. There is a huge Catholic majority in that country; I don't know why the government can't act more decisively. It's not as if there hasn't been plenty of provocation.

[bunkerhill7]

The reason is that the terrorists blackmail the businesses there for an upfront payment to be left alone, "protection money" for abu abbas; from my experience. Also the People's Army Party demand the same to be forked over...not to mention all the other govt corruption there.