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| Southeast Asia |
| Soddy cash funds Philippines violence |
| 2005-08-30 |
| FUNDS for terrorism in the Philippines are flowing into the country, mostly from the Middle East, a senior security official said over the weekend while admitting authorities are unable to stop it. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the money could be flowing to Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesia-based terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda which is accused of training terrorists in the Philippines. Gonzales, speaking on Vice President Noli de Castroâs radio program, said Indonesian authorities have informed Philippine security officials that 10 Jemaah Islamiyah members on a suicide mission have slipped into the country, with two believed to be in Manila. âWe have not yet captured the suicide bombers, and money continues to flow in that we cannot stop,â Gonzales said. âI cannot say how we are able to find out, but I can say that money is coming in and [bombing] materials are being purchased.â He declined to give details but indicated that couriers take advantage of the high traffic between the Philippines and the Middle East, where hundreds of thousands of Filipinos work. âWe know more or less [how much money is coming in], but we are not saying so,â he told The Associated Press. He said a âcombinationâ of some foreign visitors from the Middle East and Filipino workers serve as money couriers. âWhat we are looking at is the regularity of it, which means there is continuing operations now,â he said. Gonzales said he recommended that terrorism, including the arrest in the Philippines of some Saudi Arabian terror suspects, be included in talks between President Arroyo and Saudi King Abdullah during her visit to the kingdom next month. Two bombs wounded 30 people in southern Zam-boanga city early this month in an attack blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf. The Abu Sayyaf, which is on the US and European lists of terrorist organizations, has been blamed for other bombings, including an explosion last year on a ferry that killed at least 116 people. Philippine security officials say the group also has ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, which has cells in several Southeast Asian countries. The Presidentâs spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the government will not relax in its efforts to stop the terrorists, despite gaining ground in âuprooting homegrown and foreign terrorist cells.â âThe threat of terrorism does not sleep and our campaign is, and should be, relentless and steadfast,â Bunye said in a statement. âWe continue to intensify our intelligence sharing and cooperation with our allies.â |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 So what part of this war on terrorism is not being funded by the soddies? I think the Phils think that they are not getting their fair share. Gonzo is just pissed that the gov, IE Gonzo, is not getting his 10% he normally gets from the overseas slave trade remittance market. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-08-30 20:00 |
| #2 âI cannot say how we are able to find out, but I can say that money is coming in and [bombing] materials are being purchased.â The AP reporter then asked, "Is the sky blue as well? What about water? Is it wet? Whaddya think, Einstein?" |
| Posted by: Scott R 2005-08-30 08:10 |
| #1 Master of the Obvious graphic, methinks - not that documenting the fact isn't important, just that who else has almost unlimited idiot money to burn? Someday, everyone will figure it out - and the Hue and Cry® will finally be regarded as noise - and we'll take the oil, the golden goose of terrorism, away from these cretins. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-08-30 07:11 |