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| Southeast Asia |
| More details on JI training in Mindanao |
| 2005-09-15 |
| I don't mean to be rude, but at some point somebody is probably going to have to do something about this. These camps have been running more or less round the clock, barring minor disruptions from Filippino military incursions, and JI is going to stay alive and kicking as long as they can continue to churn out recruits. The same is also true of the LeT camps in Pakistan, IMO. A TOWN MAYOR IN NORTH Cotabato confirmed Wednesday that some out-of-school youth in Central Mindanao who have been displaced by previous skirmishes between the military and rebels were recruited to join the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the province. Luzviminda Tan, mayor of Kabacan town in North Cotabato, told the Inquirer that alleged extortionist Abas Limbuan Kalim disclosed the ongoing training of JI recruits in Carmen town during a tactical interrogation. "He (Kalim) averred that on Aug. 5, he managed to recruit eight Muslim teenagers from Alamada town and in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat," the mayor said. "The recruits are undergoing demo farming in Barangay Malapag, Carmen. But it's only a front, the trainers are injecting doctrine of JI," Tan said. Policemen, led by Midsayap police chief Supt. Chino Mamburan, arrested Kalim and Michael King Arania Yap last week for allegedly extorting protection money from Tan. They were arrested in front of the Land Bank office in Midsayap. Tan said on Sept. 5, Kalim attended an Islamic symposium hosted by Uztads Morshed Mano in Barangay Malingao in Midsayap. "He attested that Mano is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and is a principal suspect in a series of bomb attacks in Kabacan and nearby cities," Tan said. But the mayor denied reports that some of those recruited were students from the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan. Earlier, North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Pi€ol, a known critic of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), ordered an investigation of the reported JI training in his province. In another development, a ranking Marine official confirmed that some members of the MILF have been coddling the group of al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, who is on the run in Maguindanao province. But Brig. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the Philippine Marines 2nd Brigade said in a phone interview that rebel Commander Kagui Samir, brother of the late rebel leader Hashim Salamat, was not among them, contrary to earlier reports. Dolorfino is also chair of the government's Adhoc Joint Action Group (AHJAC). The AHJAC is composed of representatives from the government and MILF and is tasked with interdicting terrorists and kidnappers. Dolorfino made the clarification following a published military intelligence report that Samir Salamat provided refuge to Janjalani. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |