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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Philippines Travel Alert Issued by U.S. Over Terrorism Threat |
| 2004-11-02 |
| Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government issued a travel alert for its citizens in the Philippines, saying the terrorist threat in the country ``remains high.'' The U.S. ``continues to receive information that there may be future bombings in the Philippines, including against airports, commercial shipping, passenger vessels and seaports,'' the State Department said in an e-mailed statement. Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group operating in Southeast Asia, and other organizations have demonstrated the capability of attacking targets where westerners gather, the U.S. statement said. Members of Jemaah Islamiyah are being trained at bases of Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, including the island of Mindanao, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, which issues reports on terrorism in the region. The authorities in the Philippines last month arrested two men who may have been involved in a plot to bomb the U.S. embassy in the capital, Manila, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported at the time, citing Colonel Daniel Lucero, a military spokesman. The suspects said they received bomb-making training from Jemaah Islamiyah instructors in Mindanao, the report said. Military operations are being carried out by the army in the southern Philippines against the Abu Sayyaf Group, which has taken U.S. nationals hostage in the past, and the New People's Army, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the State Department said. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said last month the communist rebels have ``growing links'' to international terrorist organizations. The army needs to change its strategy to combat the 30-year communist insurgency, she said. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |