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| Southeast Asia |
| Big-name arrest, but Abu Sayyaf resiliant |
| 2014-06-19 |
| Philippine security forces believe they have cut a critical link between overseas financiers and the Abu Sayyaf Group. But last week’s capture of most-wanted terror suspect Khair Mundos in Manila left officials acknowledging they still face a long fight to wipe out the network in its strongholds in the country’s remote south. Police arrested Mundos in a slum area close to Manila airport on June 11. He was on the U.S. State Department’s "most wanted" list, with a $500,000 offer for information leading to his capture. Mundos had been a fugitive since 2007, when he escaped prison after admitting that he transferred funds between al Qaeda and the leader of Abu Sayyaf. Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said, "He’s very important in the sense that he’d get financing for the Abu Sayyaf Group. He would do their [weapons] procurement, and look for foreign donors." Zagala also alleged that Mundos had personally planned attacks. He said, "We’ve taken away their ability to plan terrorist attacks. But now new challenges have erupted from their criminality." Mundos was one of the group’s last leaders inspired by the idea of jihad, rather than the profits from ransoming hostages, according to Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of a Manila-based think-tank. Banlaoi said, "In terms of ideological propagation, [Mundos’ recapture] deals a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf Group." The shift from being ideological militants to organized criminals has, if anything, only increased the group’s resilience, Banlaoi contends. He said, "Kidnapping for ransom is now more of a communal enterprise," with the lines between Abu Sayyaf members and their associates or relatives increasingly blurred. |
| Posted by:ryuge |